By Oyintari Ben
The Russian Wagner mercenary group leader claims to have flown the Russian flag over the Ukrainian municipal hall in Bakhmut.
Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed in a night-time recording that Bakhmut was now Russian “legally.”
However, he acknowledged that Ukrainian troops were still largely concentrated in western areas.
Ukraine has maintained that Bakhmut, a city in the east that Russia has been attempting to take over for months, is still being held by its army.
On Sunday evening, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces stated that despite Russia’s continued assault on the city, “Ukrainian defenders are gallantly holding the city as they repel numerous enemy attacks.”
Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelensky, has pleaded with people to “calmly respond to the fakes of those who invent a ‘victory’ that does not exist in reality.”
Hanna Maliar, the deputy minister of defence for Ukraine, called the Wagner assertion “a funny fake.”
In the video, Mr. Prigozhin claimed that the banner had a tribute to Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, who perished in an explosion at a cafe in St. Petersburg on Sunday.
During the fighting in Bakhmut, Wagner—officially referred to as a private military company—sustained significant casualties.
In order to increase the group’s size, many of its recruits are prisoners who have been freed from Russian prisons.
Along with the Wagner forces, regular Russian military personnel are also engaged in combat in Bakhmut.
In the battle to control the city, thousands of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have died; it is believed that Russian casualties have far outweighed Ukrainian losses.
Although Bakhmut has little strategic significance, Ukraine has seen it as a significant drain on Russia’s armed resources.
The Russian commanders hoped that seizing Bakhmut would be a launchpad for more territorial advances.
Taking the city would “potentially allow Russia to threaten the larger urban areas of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk,” the UK Ministry of Defence observed in December.
In the meantime, a new assault by Ukrainian forces against currently occupied Russian territory is anticipated to begin in the coming weeks.
The mission is anticipated to start once the long-promised Western supplies, including German Leopard tanks, reach the nation.
