Ukraine has officially admitted to withdrawing troops from the eastern town of Soledar on Wednesday, after a months-long bloody battle. But Ukrainian army spokesman Sergui Tcherevaty did not specify when it took place.
After months of difficult fighting... the Ukrainian armed forces left [Soledar]," he said.
"[To] retreat to prepared positions."
Recent weeks have seen vicious fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the salt mining town, which sits in the hotly-contested Donbas region.
Moscow has portrayed the fight as key to seizing the strategic town of Bakhmut and the prized Donbas region. But the importance of the town is debated.
This is the first time Ukraine has officially recognised the loss of the town, which was once home to 11,000 people before the Russian invasion.
Tcherevaty said the retreat was "controlled" with "no encirclement or massive capture of our soldiers", and denied that soldiers had leaked information about its fate.
He claimed Ukrainian troops "inflicted incredible losses" on the Russians, and emphasised that Kyiv's strategy was to "wear out the enemy".
Casualty figures are highly-contested on both sides, and Euronews cannot verify this claim.
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