Moscow: The Russian Defence Ministry on Friday claimed that its forces have captured the salt-mining town of Soledar, the focus of a bloody battle between Russian and Ukrainian forces for months.
BBC World however reported that Ukrainian officials said the fight for Soledar was still going on and accused Russia of “information noise”.
The victory would allow Russian troops to cut off Ukrainian supply routes in the nearby larger city of Bakhmut, in the Donestsk city of Bakhmut, and then “block and encircle the Ukrainian units there,” Konashenkov said.
Soledar is located in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk province, one of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed in September.
The town’s fall would mark a rare victory for the Kremlin after a series of battlefield setbacks in its invasion of Ukraine. From the outset, Moscow identified Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk province as priorities, and it has treated the areas as Russian territory since their alleged annexation.
