Ukraine says its forces fight on in Bakhmut despite Russian claim to have taken it

The leader of the Wagner mercenary force has claimed that his troops raised the Russian flag over the administrative building in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

However, the Ukrainian military has contradicted this statement and maintained that their defenders are still engaged in combat in the war-torn city.

Bakhmut has been the site of one of the most brutal conflicts of the two-year war, resulting in significant casualties on both sides and extensive destruction throughout the eastern city due to bombardments.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner group, has spearheaded the Kremlin’s campaign to encircle and seize control of Bakhmut. While he acknowledged that Ukrainian forces were still holding some positions, he claimed that, from a legal standpoint, the city had been taken.

Prigozhin’s previous assertions have proven to be premature, however, and his current claim has yet to be independently verified.

“From a legal point of view, Bakhmut has been taken. The enemy is concentrated in the western parts,” he said in video posted on Telegram on Sunday. Prigozhin has previously made claims that were premature.

Despite the claims made by the head of the Wagner mercenary force, the Ukrainian military has reported ongoing fighting in Bakhmut and several other towns. The military stated on Monday that the enemy was continuing its assault on the city, but Ukrainian defenders were courageously holding their ground.

Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for the Odesa military administration, dismissed Prigozhin’s claim and used a hypothetical scenario to emphasize his point.

He asked, “What does it mean: if the flag of Ukraine is hung on a Moscow building, it means that Moscow is taken?” Bratchuk also stressed that Ukrainian forces were in control of the western districts of the city.

In a video address on Sunday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed gratitude to the soldiers fighting in Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Maryinka, especially those in Bakhmut, where the situation was particularly intense.

MULTIPLE ATTACKS

Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said fighting had engulfed the centre of Bakhmut. Ukrainian forces had repelled 25 enemy attacks but Russian forces had captured the AZOM metal plant, he said.

Bakhmut, a mining city and logistics hub in Ukraine, is under attack by Russian forces who are seeking a victory in their winter offensive.

Ukrainian military commanders have stressed the importance of holding Bakhmut and inflicting losses on the enemy. The war has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and destruction of Ukrainian cities, and Russia claims to have annexed nearly a fifth of Ukraine.

Moscow’s ambassador to Minsk said on Sunday that Russia would move nuclear weapons close to the western borders of Belarus, increasing the possibility of their use in the war.