Russian mercenaries say they have found the body of one of two British volunteers who went missing in Ukraine. The head of the Wagner group said his forces found the body, but did not name the volunteers. The deceased had documents belonging to both men. Photos of their passports and personal belongings of other volunteers have also been posted online. According to ELINT News, the Ask Wagner hotline allegedly received a request to search for the two missing volunteers on January 8, and the documents were discovered on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said they were “supporting the families of two Britons missing in UkraineThey added: “We are aware of the latest reports and are in touch with the Ukrainian authorities.”
Christopher Parry, 28, and Andrew Bagshaw, 48, were last seen on Friday heading to Soledar, a city that was then partially taken over by the Wagner group over the weekend and this week.
District in the east Ukrainein Donetsk, has been the center of some of the fiercest fighting on the front lines since the summer.
But attacks have intensified in recent weeks as Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of a group of Russian mercenaries, has attempted to gain his first significant territorial gains around Bakhmut.
Ukrainian police on Monday said they were looking for the two missing volunteers and that an investigation had been launched.
The small town of Soledar has become the target of Prigozhin and his mercenary fighters, who are trying to show the Kremlin that they are the only group capable of achieving territorial gains on the front lines.
It does not appear to be of much strategic value, apart from facilitating advances on the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk further north, which were heavily fortified by Ukrainian forces as the fighting in Soledar and Bakhmut slowly dragged on.
And since Prigozhin said on Wednesday that his fighters had taken complete control of the city, the Russian Defense Ministry appeared to dismiss the scandalous oligarch’s claims of their sole takeover.
Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in the military’s daily briefing that the Russian Airborne Forces “carried out strikes against enemy strongholds.”
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