(Reuters) – Russia said on Wednesday that it was making progress in military operations around the small salt mining town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine and had positive momentum, but acknowledged suffering heavy casualties.
Asked about the situation on the ground, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Let’s not rush, let’s wait for official statements. There is a positive dynamic in progress.”
Ukraine said earlier its forces were holding out. The Ukrainian military’s morning summary made one mention of Soledar, listing it as one of several towns being shelled in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
Reuters was unable to verify conditions on the ground.
Soledar lies around seven km (four miles) northeast of Bakhmut, which Russia has been attempting to capture for months in fierce fighting led by the Wagner mercenary group.
Peskov acknowledged the high cost of the operation in terms of soldiers’ lives.
“Although tactical successes are also very important, they come at a high price, at the cost of the fantastic heroism of our fighters, and therefore this is another reason to be proud of our guys on the spot who spare neither life nor health to give us these tactical successes,” he said.
Peskov reiterated previous Kremlin statements that President Vladimir Putin remained open to talks on the war in Ukraine, now approaching the end of its 11th month, and that Russia would prefer to achieve its goals by political and diplomatic means.
But he said there was no prospect of talks, given the positions of Ukraine and the West.
Ukraine and its ally the United States say Putin has shown no sign he is serious about talks, suspecting a ploy by Russia to gain time to regroup after suffering a series of defeats in recent months.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
