Ukraine's commander-in-chief said on Tuesday, December 26, that his forces had pulled back to the outskirts of the town of Marinka, a day after Moscow claimed full control of the key town.

"We have now moved to the outskirts of Marinka, and in some places already beyond the boundaries of the settlement," Valeriy Zaluzhny told reporters in Kyiv. Marinka is close to the key Russian-held city of Donetsk in east Ukraine. "We protect every piece of our land but the lives of our soldiers are more important to us," Zaluzhny said, adding that in any case the town "no longer exists" after being destroyed "street by street" by the Russians. Of the troop move, he said: "There is nothing in this that can cause a public outcry."

On Monday, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russian forces had "completely" captured Marinka, speaking at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin shown on state television. Piles of rubble and gutted apartment buildings over a wide area could be seen in drone images shown on Russian television that were said to be of Marinka.

"I want to congratulate you," Putin told Shoigu. "This is a success" that gives Russian troops "the opportunity to move into a wider operational area," the president said.

Shoigu said that control of Marinka would enable his soldiers to "move further in this direction" and "make it possible to protect Donetsk more effectively from strikes" from Ukrainian forces.

But Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesman for Ukraine's army, said on Monday it was "incorrect" to claim that Marinka was fully controlled by Russian forces. "The fighting for Marinka continues," he said, adding that there were still Ukrainian soldiers within the borders of the district of Marinka.