A statement from Russian mercenaries about the apparent death of a British aid worker in eastern Ukraine should be taken with a pinch of salt, a Ukrainian MP has said.

Kira Rudik spoke in response to a claim from Russia’s notorious Wagner Group that it has discovered the body of one of two Britons who were reported missing last Friday.

She told GB News: “I know that it’s a torment for the families, however, I want to remind everybody that the Wagner Group cannot be trusted.

“This is the organisation that has been acknowledged as a terrorist organisation in many countries and all these statements that they’re making need to be checked 100%.

“So this is why whatever statements they are making, you need to take them only as a piece of information, not as something that you can trust.

“I would encourage everyone to wait until there is confirmation on the fate of the two volunteers from Britain.”

Asked about the situation in Solidar, eastern Ukraine, where the Britons were thought to be heading, she told Stephen Dixon: “The situation is indeed dire.

“We are hearing about incredibly hard-fighting and the battlefield there is extremely intensive. It is unclear right now whose arm is controlling which part of Solidar and this is why we are just waiting for the confirmation from our generals.

“However, we do know that this is a place where the battles are extremely heavy. No matter that we are receiving so much good news from our allies on getting us more and more heavy weapons and getting us the tanks that we need badly – it will take time for the new weapons to arrive in Ukraine.”

She added: “What is happening in the east is really, really extremely hard. And we know that our soldiers are fighting like heroes, but that Russia is using an enormous amount of soldiers and then using them as battlefield meat.

“The only strategy when you’re attacked with an incredible amount of people is to be more efficient, to be smarter and to use more sophisticated weapons and this is what we are doing.

“This is why it is so important that we continue receiving the weapons that we are constantly asking for. And this is why it is so important that we keep fighting and go through this winter.

“We knew that the winter will be extremely tough for Ukraine because right now in Kyiv it’s like minus 10 and in the east it’s probably minus 15, so you can imagine even to be outside for a long time, it is hard and to fight as the situation is even harder.

“So we continue supporting our troops and making sure that they are holding and we are praying for them every single day.”