The Wagner claimed his men had planted a Russian flag atop the Bakhmut city hall, but the Ukrainian military stated that fierce fighting continued in the rubble of the city.
Massive casualties on both sides and widespread destruction of the eastern part of the city attest to the fact that Bakhmut has been the site of one of the war’s bloodiest battles in its second year.
“The lawfully binding Bakhmut has been taken. The bulk of the enemy forces are located to the west,” Wagner’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video message shared on Telegram on Sunday. Prigozhin has made unfounded claims before.
“The enemy forces are still attacking Bakhmut. But the city is being held by our brave defenders, “Ukrainian military said.
In his Sunday night video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed gratitude to the soldiers fighting in Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Maryinka. “Even more so, Bakhmut. It is very hot there,” he said.
