Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 324 of the invasion

Ukraine has denied Russia’s claim that Vladimir Putin’s forces have captured Soledar. On Friday, as Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had taken full control of the salt-mining town. Ukrainian officials denied the Russian claim, suggesting they were still holding on and counterattacking, with the Ukrainian military spokesperson Serhii Cherevatyi reporting “ongoing battles”.

Soledar is “Verdun for 21st century” according to a top Ukraine official. Andriy Yermak, head of the office of the president of Ukraine, likened the fight for the town to the longest and bloodiest battle in the first world war.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on Thursday that Ukrainian forces defending Bakhmut and Soledar in the east would be armed with everything they need to keep Russian troops at bay in some of the bloodiest fighting of the war.

Hundreds of civilians remain trapped in Soledar, Ukraine has said. Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of Donetsk, told Ukrainian state TV that 559 civilians remained in Soledar, including 15 children, and could not be evacuated.

Satellite images taken by Maxar Technologies show the destruction inflicted upon Soledar. The Guardian has a series of striking images from inside the eastern Ukrainian town.

Ukraine is confident Britain will announce it plans to send about 10 Challenger 2 tanks to Kyiv shortly, a move it hopes will help Germany finally allow its Leopard 2s to be re-exported to the embattled country. A formal announcement is anticipated on Monday but Ukrainian sources indicated they understood that Britain had already decided in favour.

Putin’s move to replace his top commander in Ukraine after a few months is a sign of military disarray and his growing impatience in a war Russia is not winning, analysts said. The defence ministry in Moscow said on Wednesday it had, again, replaced its top commander in Ukraine, putting the army chief of staff, Valery Gerasimov, in charge. It is the latest of several major shake-ups of Moscow’s military leadership.

Germany will continue to “weigh every step carefully” and consult with its allies on further weapons deliveries to Ukraine, the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has said. The German leader is facing mounting pressure to approve German-made battle tanks for Kyiv. Scholz said Berlin would keep its “leading position” as one of Kyiv’s top supporters but said he had no intention of being rushed on “such serious things that have to do with peace and war, with the security of our country and of Europe”.

A US envoy has called for Serbia to sign up to sanctions against Russia. Counsellor Derek Chollet expressed strong concern on Thursday about the activities of the Russian private military contractor Wagner group and its alleged attempts to recruit soldiers in Serbia and elsewhere in the world.

A former Russian deputy minister of defence has suggested the country could increase the upper age limit for conscription from 27 to 30 for this year’s spring draft campaign. Andrey Kartapolov, the head of the State Duma defence committee, suggested the change could take place without altering the lower bar for conscription of 18 years.

A US navy veteran has been released after almost a year in Russian detention, according to his family. Taylor Dudley, 35, of Michigan, was taken into custody by Russian border police last April after crossing the border from Poland into Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania.

A Ukrainian soldier has had successful surgery to remove an unexploded grenade from his chest, senior officials in Kyiv have said. Surgeons removed the weapon from just beneath the heart of the injured serviceman, while two sappers ensured the operation was conducted safely, said Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy minister of defence.

Turkey has summoned Sweden’s ambassador over a protest in Stockholm in which a puppet of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was hung from its feet. Footage shared by pro-government Turkish media showed what they said were supporters of the Kurdish militant group PKK hanging an effigy of the Turkish leader at a demonstration outside Stockholm’s city hall. Sweden has been seeking Turkey’s approval of its Nato membership bid, which it applied for after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. Ankara has said Stockholm needs to clamp down on Kurdish groups it views as “terrorists”.