Ukraine updates: Kyiv says situation in Soledar 'difficult'

Fighting continued in the eastern Ukrainian town of Soledar on Thursday, with Russian forces using jets and mortars in an unrelenting assault.

Russia’s Wagner mercenary group claimed to have taken control of Soledar but Ukrainian officials disputed the claim.

Ukrainian defense officials acknowledged that troops were facing a difficult battle in the town. “The fiercest and heaviest fighting is continuing today in the area of Soledar,” Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar told reporters on…