Contested city in eastern Ukraine: Kyiv: Situation in Soledar "difficult"

Despite attempts by Ukrainian forces to retain control of the fiercely contested eastern Ukrainian city of Soledar, the situation there is "difficult", according to Ukrainian sources.

"The fiercest and heaviest fighting continues today in the Soledar region," Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Malyar told journalists on Thursday.

"Despite the difficult situation, Ukrainian soldiers are fighting tenaciously," she said.

Russia is sending "thousands of its citizens to the slaughterhouse, but we are doing well," Maljar said.

There are "heavy losses" on the Russian side, she said.

The Russian military initially did not comment on the situation in and around Soledar on Thursday.

Prigozhin: Found body of missing Briton

The claim by the Russian mercenary group Wagner that they had taken the city in the Donetsk region was rejected by both Moscow and Kyiv on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, the head of the mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed the militia had captured Soledar.

The Defense Ministry in Moscow then declared that the fighting continued.

Ukraine also denied a full takeover.

Prigozhin claimed on Thursday that the body of a missing Briton had been found in Soledar.

On a Telegram channel assigned to the mercenaries, photos were posted on Wednesday evening that are said to show the documents of two Britons.

The body of one of the men and the ID cards were found in Soledar, it is said.

There was no information about the fate of the second missing person.

The statement did not indicate on which side the missing Briton had fought.

A few days ago, the Foreign Ministry in London announced that two Britons were missing in Ukraine.

According to various media reports, dozens of foreign fighters have died in Ukraine since the start of the Russian war of aggression.

Most of them supported the Ukrainian armed forces.

Ukraine's presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak on Wednesday called the fighting around Soledar and nearby Bakhmut the "bloody" fighting since the start of the Russian invasion.

Soledar is located in the Donetsk region claimed by Moscow, near the city of Bakhmut, which has been heavily contested for months.

Both sides had recently reported fierce fighting around Soledar.

Should Russian fighters capture Soledar, it would be Moscow's first significant military victory in months.

However, according to Podoljak, Bakhmut - and by extension Soledar - could be a starting point to retake the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk.