Iran Press/ Europe News: In a statement on the Telegram app,Yevgeny V. Prigozhin said troops of his Wagner Group were in control throughout the town, characterizing the remaining fighting as a mop-up operation. The news has not been confirmed by Ukraine.
Ukraine's military denied on Wednesday that Russian forces had taken control of the eastern town of Soledar, and said the intensity of battles in the area could be compared to fighting in World War Two.
Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesman for the eastern military command, told Ukrainian television that Ukrainian forces had not allowed Russian forces to break through frontlines.
"The town is not under the control of the Russian Federation. There are fierce battles going on now," he said. "There is a complicated situation there."
He said the military command was "working now on how to stabilise the situation with the maximum impact for the enemy and minimum losses for Ukraine".
Soledar had become the focal point of Russia to seize the city of Bakhmut several miles to the southwest. The Kremlin has made Bakhmut, in turn, the centerpiece of its drive to occupy all of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
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