Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that the hard-hit town of Bakhmut is “completely destroyed”. Russia has previously stated that the Wagner forces have taken control of the city.
– Now Bachmut only exists in our hearts, he says.
Asked directly if the city is still under Ukrainian control, Zelenskyy says: “I don’t think so”. At the same time, he believes that Russia has not completely taken control of the city, according to BBC.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has stated that the mercenaries of the Wagner Group, supported by artillery and aircraft from the Russian Southern Battle Group, captured the city.
The information came eight hours after Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed to have taken control of the entire city.
The very bloody battles for Bachmut have been going on for eight months. Ukraine on Saturday denied the information, which has not been confirmed by independent sources.
Putin pays tribute to the Wagner group
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the mercenaries of the Wagner group and the country’s forces for the capture of the city, the state-run Tass said, citing a statement from the Kremlin.
A Russian takeover of Bachmut would primarily have a great symbolic meaning, according to military experts that TT spoke to on Saturday.
This doesn’t really matter on the battlefield, said Johan Huovinen, lieutenant colonel and teacher at the Norwegian Defense Academy who has been active in both Moscow and Kiev.
Ukraine has previously denied that Russia took over Bachmut, and an adviser to the country’s president has aired the idea that the information was released now to overshadow Zelensky’s high-profile international visit to Japan in connection with the G7 meeting.