Russia claims to have completely captured the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut

Russia claimed on Saturday it had completely captured the devastated Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which, if true, would end the longest and bloodiest battle of the 15-month war.

The assault on the city, largely razed, was led by troops ofThe Wagner mercenary groupwhose leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, declared earlier in the day that his troops had finally driven the Ukrainians out of the last built-up area inside the city.

kyiv denied Prigozhin’s claim. The capture of Bakhmut – which Russia refers to by the Soviet name of Artemovsk – would mark Moscow’s first major victory in the conflict in more than 10 months.

“As a result of the offensive actions of the Wagner assault units, supported by the artillery and aviation of the Southern Group of Forces, the liberation of Artemovsk has been completed,” the Russian Defense Ministry stated in a single-line statement. .

Kiev did not immediately react to the claim, which comes after a week in which Ukrainian forces have made their fastest advances in six months on Bakhmut’s northern and southern flanks.

Prigozhin, who has repeatedly denounced the Russian military regulars for abandoning ground previously captured by his men, said his own forces would withdraw from Bakhmut in five days to rest, handing over the ruins to the regular military.

“Today, at 12 noon, Bakhmut has been completely taken over,” Prigozhin said in a video in which he appeared in combat gear in front of a line of fighters holding Wagner and Russian flags. “We completely took over the entire city, from house to house.”

Ukrainian military spokesman Serhiy Cherevatyi, reacting to Prigozhin’s comments before Russia’s announcement, told Reuters: “This is not true. Our units are fighting in Bakhmut.”

Ukrainian counteroffensive expected

Whether the Ukrainian forces have abandoned Bakhmut or not, they have slowly withdrawn inside it, to clusters of buildings on the western edge of the city.

Meanwhile, to the north and south, they have wrested swathes of territory from Russian troops.

Russia has acknowledged losing ground around Bakhmut in the past week, though it has denied Prigozhin’s claims that the flanks around the city guarded by regular troops have collapsed.

Kiev claims its goal in Bakhmut has been to draw Russian forces from other parts of the front into the city, inflict heavy casualties there, and weaken Moscow’s defensive line elsewhere ahead of an expected major counteroffensive.