Russia says Ukrainian city of Bakhmut captured
Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday his Wagner group fighters had completed the capture of Bakhmut, but Ukraine rejected the claim and said fighting was still going on.
Prigozhin made the claim in a video in which he appeared in combat fatigues in front of a line of fighters holding Russian flags and Wagner banners.
Later Prigozhin's company, Concord, which has been releasing all his statements and videos, posted footage of Wagner fighters posing with Russian and Wagner flags in various locations said to be in Bakhmut.
Ukrainian military spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi told Reuters: "This is not true. Our units are fighting in Bakhmut."
Bakhmut has been the focus of the longest and bloodiest battle of Russia's war in Ukraine, which is nearly at the end of its 15th month.
Prigozhin's victory claim followed fierce fighting around the city in the past week, in which Ukraine said it pushed back some Russian forces.
Prigozhin has himself acknowledged that Bakhmut, a city of 70,000 people before the war, had no strategic significance, but it took on huge symbolic importance for both sides because of the sheer intensity of the fighting and the scale of losses.
Reuters
