Russia claimed Wednesday its first significant success in Ukraine since July, seizing most of the eastern town of Soledar after weeks of heavy fighting led by the Wagner private military company. 

Wagner’s owner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, posted a photo of himself in what appeared to be Soledar, saying that, while the entire territory of the town is under his fighters’ control, street battles with the encircled remainder of Ukrainian forces are continuing in the downtown area.