Russia claims capture of Ukraine’s Vuhlehirska power station, as UK reports ‘tactical advances’ by Wagner mercenaries
- Wagner Group mercenaries reported involved in Russian operation to take Vuhlehirska Power Plant in Donetsk region
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that Russian military losses have climbed to nearly 40,000
Moscow said its troops had seized control of Ukraine’s second biggest power station near the city of Svitlodarsk in eastern Ukraine’s fiercely-contested Donetsk region.
The capture of Vuhlehirska Power Plant was reported by Russia’s RIA Novosti on Tuesday.
While images were shared by Russian separatist media purporting to show Wagner Group mercenaries in front of plant’s administration building, the Russian claim could not be independently verified and other reports suggested fighting around the plant was continuing.
The Ukrainian general staff did not mention the power plant in its Tuesday evening situation report, though it reported that there had been fighting around the village of Semyhirya nearby.
Ukrainian soldiers had managed to repel attacks along the front line in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions on Tuesday, the general staff said.
In its daily Ukraine intelligence report early Wednesday, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said Wagner Group had “likely succeeded in making tactical advances in the Donbas around the Vuhlehirska Power Plant and the nearby village of Novoluhanske”.