Russo-Ukraine War: In a major development, the head of the Russian private army Wagner claimed that his forces had taken control of the city of Bakhmut – a claim denied by Kiev.
In a social media post, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said the city came under full Russian control around noon on Saturday. He spoke among about half a dozen combatants, with ruined buildings in the background and explosions heard in the distance.
However, after the video surfaced, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said that heavy fighting was continuing. “The situation is serious,” she said. “Until now, our protectorates control some of the industrial and infrastructure facilities in the region.”
Ukraine rejected Russia’s claim
Serhiy Cherevtyi, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Eastern Command, told The Associated Press that Prigozhin’s claim was “not true. Our units are fighting in Bakhmut.” In a statement on Facebook, the Ukrainian General Staff said, “The heavy fighting for the city of Bakhmut does not stop.”
Mykhailo Podolyak, chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said, “This is not the first time Prigozhin has said ‘we have seized everything and are dominating’.” He also suggested that the Wagner chief’s statement was intended to draw attention away from Zelensky’s recent highly visible trips abroad, including Saturday’s G7 summit in Japan.
Fighting has been going on for more than eight months in and around Bakhmut.
If Russian forces take control of Bakhmut, they will still face the mammoth task of seizing the remainder of the Donetsk region still controlled by Ukraine, including several heavily fortified areas.
Still, the reality is unknown
It is unclear which side paid a higher price in the Battle of Bakhmut. Both Russia and Ukraine are believed to have suffered casualties in the thousands, although neither has disclosed the number of casualties.
Zelensky underlined the importance of defending Bakhmut in an interview with The Associated Press in March, saying that its fall could allow Russia to garner international support for a deal that Kiev would find unacceptable. Compromise may be required.
Analysts have said that the fall of Bakhmut would be a blow to Ukraine and give Russia some strategic advantage but would not prove decisive for the outcome of the war.
Russian forces face the uphill task of seizing the rest of the Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control, including several heavily fortified areas. The Donbass, the province of Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk, is Ukraine’s industrial heartland where a separatist insurgency began in 2014 and which Moscow illegally annexed in September.
Bakhmut, located about 55 kilometers (34 mi) north of the Russian-held regional capital of Donetsk, had an earlier population of 80,000 and was an important industrial centre, surrounded by salt and gypsum mines.
(with inputs from AP)