Russia claims ready to invade Ukraine's Soledar

Russia says its forces are ready to fully invade Soledari, a city of salt mines in eastern Ukraine, would mark an elusive victory for the Kremlin, but has the cost of Russian victims and the wide destruction of territory they claim to possess.

More than 100 Russian troops were killed in the battle in Soledar over the past 24 hours, Donetsk Governor Pavlo Krylenko said in a televised statement.

The “Russians marched on the bodies of their soldiers, burning everything on the street,” said Kyrylenko, while reported that Russian forces had promoted a dozen towns and villages in the region yesterday.

If the Russians were to take this area they would try to invade other cities around them, the BBC writes.