Russian mercenaries the Wagner Group claimed its forces found the body of one of two British voluntary aid workers reported missing in eastern Ukraine. It did not give the name of the dead man but said documents belonging to both Britons had been found on his body.

Ukrainian forces are “holding on” as “fierce fighting” continues in Soledar, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said, adding that the number of Russian military units had risen to 280 from 250 a week earlier. Ukraine’s military has denied that Russian forces have encircled and captured the town.

A Russian-installed official in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Andrei Bayevsky, said “pockets of resistance” from Ukrainian troops remain in Soledar, undermining claims made on Wednesday by the head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, that Soledar had fallen. Prigozhin released a photo showing him with a group of his fighters and a tank, which he said was taken in one of the tunnels of a saltmine in the south-west of Soledar.

The latest intelligence update from the UK Ministry of Defence said over the last two days heavy fighting has continued around Soledar.

The Ukrainian military has claimed its forces killed more than 100 Russian soldiers in a single strike in Soledar. Ukrainian forces reportedly launched a missile at Russian troops.

Russia appointed Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff, as its overall commander for the war in Ukraine, in the latest of several major shake-ups of Moscow’s military leadership. Russia’s defence ministry said the changes were designed to “improve the quality … and effectiveness of the management of Russian forces” in a statement on Wednesday. Gerasimov has faced sharp criticism from Russia’s hawkish military bloggers for multiple setbacks on the battlefield.

No new prisoner exchange agreements were reached during yesterday’s talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey, according to Moscow’s envoy. Russia’s human rights commissioner, Tatyana Moskalkova, held a rare meeting in Ankara with her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Lubinets.