A group of Russian mercenaries claims to have captured the Ukrainian city of Soledar, but Zelensky denies it

The Russian-born paramilitary group Grupo Wagner claims to have taken full control of the Ukrainian city of Soledar this Thursday.

According to Reuters, the mercenary group said the city was “full of Ukrainian bodies.”

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said his troops “took Soledar and killed about 500 Ukrainian soldiers.” “The whole city is littered with the corpses of Ukrainian soldiers,” he added.

The Minister of Defense of Ukraine stated that “Ukraine remains on the front lines in the battle for Soledar” and that “they are holding out.”

Prigozhin already said this Wednesday that the city of Soledar had been taken, but the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelenskydismissed the accusations and said “the battle for Soledar continues” but has not yet commented on the latest allegations by the Russian private militia about dead Ukrainian soldiers.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters on Wednesday that he could not confirm reports that Soledar was now in Russian hands.

Donetsk Governor Pavel Kirilenko told Ukrainian state television that 559 civilians, including 15 children, remained in Soledar and that their evacuation was impossible due to ongoing fighting. About 10,500 people lived in the city before the war.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday appointed Chief of Staff General Valery Gerasimov as commander-in-chief of what Moscow calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine that has been ongoing for 11 months.

The move effectively ousted General Sergei Surovikin, who was appointed in October to lead the invasion and spearhead attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.