Wagner Leader Claims Bakhmut Has Been Taken
May 20, 2023
Russia's Wagner Group private army claimed on Saturday to have finally captured the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut after the longest and bloodiest battle of the war - but Kyiv denied the city had fallen, though it called the situation there critical.
If confirmed, the announcement by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin that his troops had finally pushed the Ukrainians out of the last built-up area inside the city would amount to claiming Moscow's first big prize in more than 10 months.
But any sense of victory for Russia appears likely to be fleeting. The announcement comes after a week in which Ukrainian forces have made their most rapid gains in six months on Bakhmut's northern and southern flanks, which Prigozhin has said put his troops inside the city at risk of encirclement.
Prigozhin, who has repeatedly denounced Russia's regular military for abandoning ground captured earlier by his men, said his own forces would now pull out of Bakhmut in five days to rest, handing the ruins of the city over to the regular military.
"Today, at 12 noon, Bakhmut was completely taken," Prigozhin said in a video in which he appeared in combat fatigues in front of a line of fighters holding Russian flags and Wagner banners. "We completely took the whole city, from house to house."
Ukrainian military spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi told Reuters: "This is not true. Our units are fighting in Bakhmut."
Ukraine's deputy defence minister, Hanna Maliar, reported "heavy fighting in Bakhmut. The situation is critical," she said on the Telegram messaging service.
"As of now, our defenders control some industrial and infrastructure facilities in the area and the private sector."
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said, "This is not the first time Prigozhin has said, 'We seized everything and are dominating.'"
Moscow has long claimed that capturing Bakhmut would be a stepping stone toward advancing deeper into the Donbas region it claims to have annexed from Ukraine. It has made it the principal target of a massive winter and spring offensive that failed to capture any significant ground elsewhere.
But Prigozhin has said that Bakhmut, a city of 70,000 people before the war, has little strategic significance, despite its huge symbolic importance because of the scale of losses in Europe's bloodiest ground battle since the Second World War.
Distant explosions could be heard in the background as Prigozhin spoke during the video, in which he said his forces would withdraw from Bakhmut from May 25 for rest and retraining, handing over control to the regular Russian army.
Source
and...
Russia Backs Up Prigozhin's Claim
May 20, 2023
Russia claimed on Saturday to have fully captured the smashed eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which would mark an end to the longest and bloodiest battle of the 15-month war.
The assault on the largely levelled city was led by troops from the Wagner Group of mercenaries, whose leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said earlier in the day that his troops had finally pushed the Ukrainians out of the last built-up area inside the city.
Taking Bakhmut - which Russia refers to by its Soviet-era name of Artyomovsk - would represent Moscow's first big victory in the conflict in more than 10 months.
"As a result of offensive actions by Wagner assault units, supported by artillery and aviation of the Southern Group of Forces, the liberation of Artyomovsk has been completed," the Russian defence ministry said in a one-line statement.
Kyiv denied Prigozhin's claim earlier on Saturday, but did not have an immediate response to the defence ministry's statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated troops on capturing the city and said those who had distinguished themselves would be given awards, domestic Russian news agencies reported.
Source
Vid: