Smoke billows over Bakhmut, where the head of the Russian Wagner mercenary group won again on Saturday. Photo: ANATOLY STEPANOV/AFP
The head of the Russian mercenary group “Wagner” said that his troops captured the whole of Bakhmut. The Ukrainian authorities immediately denied this statement.
Yevgeny Prigozhin also said on Saturday that his troops would begin to withdraw from the destroyed city in the Donbass. region, eastern Ukraine, from Thursday.
Prigozhin had previously claimed victory in Bakhmut by hoisting the Russian flag over important buildings, but Ukraine insisted it was holding on and the fighting was continuing.
'The operation to capture Bakhmut, the 'Bakhmut Meat Grinder', continued 224 days,” he said in a speech posted on his Telegram channel. “For 224 days the guys stormed the city. Only Wagner's mercenaries were there.”
Within minutes, Ukrainian officials, who have been claiming for the past 10 days that they were retaking territory from Russian troops in Bakhmut, denied Prigozhin's claim.
Central Bakhmut from the air, May 15. Photo: AFP
“This is not true. Our units continue fighting in Bakhmut,” said Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for the eastern military group of Ukraine.
Fighting is believed to be concentrated around a few streets in the northwest of Bakhmut.
Mr. Prigozhin recorded his six-minute speech standing near a row of destroyed buildings. The roar of artillery was heard in the background, and around him were nine impassive mercenaries with the flags of Wagner and Russia.
Mr. the first notable battlefield victory against Ukraine in over a year.
Analysts say Wagner lost tens of thousands of men fighting in Bakhmut, mostly prisoners recruited from Russian prisons.
Considered one of Mr Putin's most trusted allies, Mr Prigozhin has been arguing with the Russian Defense Ministry for the past six months.
On Saturday, he again accused Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, Russia's top military commander, of causing unnecessary deaths.
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Earlier, he threatened to withdraw from the battle for Bakhmut if the Ministry of Defense did not send more ammunition to his fighters.
“We fought in Bakhmut not only with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but also with the Russian bureaucracy, the military bureaucracy,” he said.
Earlier, the British Ministry of Defense said that the Ukrainian offensive in the Bakhmut region sucks and exhausts Russian forces before Kiev goes on the offensive.< /p>
“In the past four days, Russia has most likely redeployed up to several battalions to reinforce the Bakhmut sector,” the British ministry said. “Since Russia probably has relatively few unused combat units left in Ukraine, the redeployment represents a notable commitment by the Russian command.”
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