Wagner claims victory in Bakhmut, says it is in full control, but Kiev insists battle is not over

The Russian mercenary force Wagner says it has won victory in Bakhmut after more than 200 days of fighting for the city, but Ukraine has rejected the claim.

Leader Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed his troops were in full control of the besieged city in a video shot in front of destroyed buildings as explosions could be heard in the distance.

Ukraine’s deputy defense minister rejected the claim, but admitted the situation was “critical.”

Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesman for Ukraine’s eastern command, also told the Associated Press news agency that Prigozhin’s claim “is not true.” Our units are fighting in Bakhmut.’

Wagner mercenaries have fought in the longest and bloodiest war to date to take the eastern city and have previously claimed to have taken it.

The now largely destroyed city is not a strategically important location for Russia, but Ukraine has poured large amounts of resources into its defence.

Western estimates say between 20,000 and 30,000 Russian troops were killed or wounded in Bakhmut, while the Ukrainian army also suffered heavily.

In its latest intelligence update, Britain’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) said Russia’s redeployment of “up to several battalions” in the area over the past four days followed Ukrainian tactical gains on the flanks of the largely destroyed city.

The Defense Ministry added: “With Russia likely having relatively few non-dedicated combat units in Ukraine, the redeployment represents a remarkable commitment by the Russian command.

“Russia’s leaders will likely continue to view the capture of Bakhmut as the most important immediate war objective that would enable them to claim some success in the conflict.”

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky is in Japan for talks with the leaders of the world’s most powerful democracies at the G7 summit.

Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app that they also discussed Ukraine’s demining and mobile hospital needs in their first face-to-face meeting since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Reuters reported.

Kiev has been preparing since February last year for a major counter-offensive to take back the territory occupied by Russia.

The news in Bakhmut comes after US President Joe Biden approved plans to train Ukrainian pilots on US-made F-16 jets, in a move that could tip the balance in the war with Russia.

The F-16 training will be conducted with European-owned but US-made F-16s and is likely to begin in the coming weeks.