Vladimir Putin has told his government that the situation in the areas of Ukraine that Russia says it has annexed was “difficult in places”.
But despite admitting the challenging situation, the Russian president also said Russia had all the resources it needed to improve life in the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow unilaterally claimed to have annexed in September.
It comes as the battle for Soledar- and the nearby city of Bakhmut- continues to rage with Russia‘s defence ministry saying that airborne units had now surrounded the town from the north and south.
However, Ukraine has denied claims from the Russian mercenary Wagner group that its forces have taken control of the eastern mining town of Soledar, saying that the fierce fighting in the area was akin to the Second World War.
"The town is not under the control of the Russian Federation. There are fierce battles going on now," Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern military command, said. "There is a complicated situation there."
“The intensity of battles near Bakhmut can be compared with World War Two,” Mr Cherevatyi added. Control of Soledar and Bakhmut would give Russian forces a route into other areas of eastern Ukraine.
