In what would mark a rare victory for the Kremlin after a series of setbacks in its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has claimed that it has taken control of a fiercely contested salt mining town Soledar, the Associated Press reported, without confirming Russia’s claim.
However, the Ukrainian authorities have not yet confirmed about the capture. Conflicting reports over who controls the town have been emerging. The site has witnessed a months long bloody battle in the grinding fight for Ukraine’s eastern regions.
Soledar is located in Ukraine’s Donetsk province, one of four illegally annexed by Russia in September.
“The liberation of the town of Soledar was completed in the evening of Jan. 12,” Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, the Russian Defence Ministry’s spokesman, said, adding that the development was “important for the continuation of offensive operations in the Donetsk region.”
