Founder of Wagner private mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin makes a statement as he stands next to Wagner fighters in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Bakhmut, Ukraine, in this still image taken from video released on May 20, 2023. Press service of “Concord”/Handout via REUTERS
Russia claimed on Saturday, May 20, to have fully captured the smashed eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which if true would mark an end to the longest and bloodiest battle of the 15-month war.
The assault on the largely leveled 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.
Kyiv denied Prigozhin’s claim. 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 defense ministry said in a one-line statement.
READ: Russian forces in retreat near Bakhmut, Ukraine and Wagner say
There was no immediate reaction from Kyiv to Russia’s claim that comes after a week in which Ukrainian forces have made their most rapid gains for six months on Bakhmut’s northern and southern flanks.
“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, reacting to Prigozhin’s comments before Russia’s announcement, told Reuters: “This is not true. Our units are fighting in Bakhmut.”
Ukraine counteroffensive expected
Whether the Ukrainian forces have left Bakhmut or not, they have been slowly pulling back inside it, to clusters of buildings on the city’s western edge.
Meanwhile, to the north and south, they have seized swathes of territory from Russian troops.
Russia has acknowledged losing some ground around Bakhmut in the past week, while denying assertions by Prigozhin that the flanks around the city guarded by regular troops have collapsed.
Kyiv says its aim in Bakhmut has been to draw Russian forces from elsewhere on the front into the city, to inflict high casualties there and weaken Moscow’s defensive line elsewhere ahead of a planned major counteroffensive.
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