KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia claimed Friday that its forces captured a fiercely contested salt mining town, in what would mark a rare victory for the Kremlin after a series of setbacks in its invasion of Ukraine.
There was no immediate confirmation from Ukrainian authorities of Soledar’s fall. There have been conflicting reports over who controls the town, the site of a monthslong bloody battle in the grinding fight for Ukraine’s eastern regions. Given the dangers there, The Associated Press could not confirm Russia’s claim.
Soledar is located in Ukraine’s Donetsk province, one of four that Moscow illegally annexed in September.