Russia claims control of salt mine town Soledar

Russia's military says it has captured the Ukrainian salt-mine town Soledar after a long battle, calling it an "important" step for its offensive.

The victory would allow Russian troops to push on to the nearby city of Bakhmut, and cut off the Ukrainian forces there, a spokesman said.

This was a very confident and ambitious statement from Moscow.

But Ukrainian officials said the fight for Soledar was still going on and accused Russia of "information noise".

The battle for Soledar has been one of the bloodiest of the war.

The town is relatively small, with a pre-war population of just 10,000, and its strategic significance is debatable. But if it is confirmed that Russian forces have seized control of it, then there will likely be a big sigh of relief in the Kremlin. read more