Russian mercenary claims capture of Bakhmut, Ukraine denies

The head of the brutal Wagner Group of mercenaries claimed Saturday that his forces captured the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, but Kyiv quickly denied that the city had fallen. 

In a video recording, Yevgeny Prigozhin, clad in a helmet and camoflage army fatigues, stood in front of fighters holding Russian and Wagner flags as as explosions boomed in the background and announced that Bakhmut had finally been captured, following months of bloody combat. 

“Today, at 12 noon, Bakhmut was completely taken,” Prigozhin said. “We completely took the whole city, from house to house.”

The mercenary group will hand the city over to Russia on Thursday, Prigozhin said.

Ukraine rejected the claim, with military spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi stating that “Our units are fighting in Bakhmut.”

Shortly after Prigozhin made his announcement, Ukrainian deputy defense minister Hanna Maliar said on Telegram that the situation in Bakhmut was “critical,” but that troops were still defending the city’s “Airplane” area.  

“As of now, our defenders, control certain industrial and infrastructure facilities in this area,” Mailar said. 

The eastern Ukrainian city, dubbed “the meat grinder,” has been the focus of Russia’s longest and bloodiest battle in the war,

The city does not have major strategic importance for Russia in the war, which has been raging for nearly 15 months now but it has taken on symbolic importance for both sides due to the intensity of the fighting and size of losses. In March, a report estimated that the Wagner group had up to 25,000 forces in the months-long, bloody fight for Bakhmut.

Prigozhin said in the video that his forces would withdraw from Bakhmut on Thursday to rest and retrain, and that they would hand control of the city over to the Russian army. 

Progozhin is known as a clever propagandist, and his announcement came as Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelensky was making headlines with his appearance at the G-7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, where the war is a top issue on the agenda.

He took a jab at Zelensky and President Joe Biden, who are slated to meet at the summit.

“Today when you see Biden, kiss him on the top of his head, say hi to him from me,” Prigozhin said in a comment directed to Zelensky. 

Prigozhin’s announcement comes in the wake of heavy fighting around the city, in which Ukraine said that it had managed to push back some of Russia’s forces.

On Saturday, the British Ministry of Defense shared an intelligence update detailing that it was “high likely” that Russian had deployed up to several battalions to reinforce the Bakhmut sector, following tactical gains by Ukraine on the flanks of the city. 

“Russia’s leadership likely continue to see capturing Bakhmut as the key immediate war aim which would allow them to claim some degree of success in the conflict,” the update said. 

Prigozhin’s announcement came days after he accused members of the Russian army of deserting Bakhmut and begged Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov not to abandon his mercenary group’s forces.

“Please do not give up the flanks,” Prigozhin pleaded.

With Post wires.