Bakhmut has fallen.....
Head of the Russian private military group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has announced Saturday that after months of grinding warfare and heavy casualties, Russia has now taken full control of the strategic city of Bakhmut.
Prigozhin is announcing final victory and that Bakhmut has finally fallen.
"The operation to capture Bakhmut lasted 224 days" he said in a video posted to Wagner's Telegram channel.
"Today at noon, Bakhmut was fully captured," he declared.
Russian state media is also
declaring "The key Donbass city of Artyomovsk, known as Bakhmut in Ukraine, has been
fully liberated by the Russian forces...".
Prigozhin described that full capture of the city finally came when an area containing high-rise buildings where the final Ukrainian defensive holdout had a presence was conquered.
Western media reports have said they can't verify the claims, but headlines in
Reuters and the
Associated Press are widely reporting the Wagner chief's
declaration of victory:
In a video posted on Telegram, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin said the city came under complete Russian control at about midday Saturday. He spoke flanked by about half a dozen fighters, with ruined buildings in the background and explosions heard in the distance.
But the mainstream media reports are also highlighting
Ukraine's rejection of claims that the city has finally fallen. Yet, as the AP underscores, Ukrainian officials have lately admitted the situation was already dire for their forces:
However, after the video appeared, Ukrainian deputy defense minister Hanna Maliar said heavy fighting was continuing.
“The situation is critical,” she said. “As of now, our defenders, control certain industrial and infrastructure facilities in this area.”
Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukraine’s eastern command, told The Associated Press that Prigozhin’s claim “is not true. Our units are fighting in Bakhmut.”