Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mocked Russian President Vladimir Putin-linked mercenary group Wagner as its head claimed to have captured all of Soledar.
What Happened: Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of Wagner and a close ally of Putin, said his forces were controlling Ukraine’s eastern town of Soledar and killed about 500 Ukrainian soldiers after heavy fighting.
“I want to confirm the complete liberation and cleansing of the territory of Soledar,” Prigozhin said in a statement, adding, “The whole city is littered with the corpses of Ukrainian soldiers.”
Zelenskyy, mocking Wagner’s group’s claims to have seized part of Soledar, said, “The terrorist state and its propagandists are trying to pretend that part of our town of Soledar…is some sort of a Russian possession.”
He made no immediate comment on the latest assertions but said, “fighting continues.”
In a Facebook statement, the Ukrainian military general staff said Russian forces were suffering heavy losses as they tried to take Soledar and sever Ukrainian supply lines.
Meanwhile, Russia named a new commander for its military forces, its second in just three months.
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