Wagner boss Prigoshin declares taking of Bakhmut
The founder of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, declared on Sunday that the city of Bakhmut, which is considered strategic, had been taken. His troops had raised the Russian flag on the city’s administrative building, Prigozhin said in an audio message published by his press service on Telegram. “From a legal point of view, Bakhmut is captured.” From the Ukrainian side, however, there was no evidence that Bakhmut had fallen into Russian hands. In the past, similar statements by the boss of the mercenary about combat events had sometimes turned out to be premature.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening speech that the military situation around Bakhmut was “particularly heated”. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces continued to defend their positions in the city, while Russian forces attacked with little regard for casualties. “The situation in Bachmut remains tense,” she said on Telegram.
Fighting has spread to the city center, according to Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov. Russian forces captured the Azom metal works, which Ukrainian troops had defended for days. “The enemy is attacking the city center from the north, east and south, trying to take complete control of the city,” Zhdanov said in a video posted on YouTube.
There has been fierce fighting over the mining town in the east for months. Led by the Wagner group of mercenaries, Russian troops try to encircle Bakhmut. Zelenskyj has repeatedly stated that he does not want to give up the city. The capture of Bakhmut would be the first major success of the invading Russian forces in more than half a year and would open the way for bringing the remaining urban centers in the Donbass under Russian control.