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The head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) in eastern Ukraine, Denis Pushilin, said he visited the town of Soledar, which Russia claims it captured earlier this month, Reuters reported.

Pushilin posted a short video on Telegram on Sunday, showing him driving and walking through uninhabited areas and destroyed buildings.

"I visited Soledar today," Pushilin said in the accompanying message.

Reuters specifies that it cannot confirm from independent sources when and where the video recording was made.

On January 11, Russia's private military company Wagner announced it had captured Soledar, and Russian-appointed authorities in the Donetsk region said last week they were in control of the city, known for its salt mines, BTA reported.

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Ukraine has never officially recognized that the city was captured by Russian forces.

On Sunday, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army announced that Russian forces had shelled Ukrainian positions in the zone.

In his message, Pushilin says that there are defeats in the mines in Soledar and it is difficult to go down into them.

Soledar, along with the city of Bakhmut to the southeast, have been at the center of intense fighting for months.

Last week, Russian-linked military groups said they had also captured the small village of Klishcheevka near Bakhmut.

The so-called Donetsk People's Republic is one of four Ukrainian regions that Russia in September illegally declared annexed after a referendum that Ukraine and its allies described as "rigged" and "conducted under pressure."