Ukraine acknowledges that Bakhmut is experiencing a “critical” situation, although “our troops continue to fight” in the city whose conquest the head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prygozhin, just claimed this afternoon. It is not the first time that the paramilitary leader announces a victory in the longest and bloodiest battle of all those carried out since the beginning of the invasion, but on this occasion Kiev admits that it only maintains some defenses in “the area at the entrance to the city” on one of its flanks.
“There are heavy battles in Bakhmut. The situation is critical,” said Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malya, who reports that her troops are concentrating on controlling “certain industrial and infrastructure facilities in this area and the private sector.” The most recent images of the city show that it has become a veritable hell, with fires in numerous buildings, most reduced to ruins. Testimonies from soldiers stationed at the front ensure that in recent days the advances and counterattacks have taken place in spaces of just two street blocks, which offers an idea of the fierceness of the fight. Nobody knows how many soldiers and civilians have died.
Prigozin, who warned less than ten days ago that the Russian front was on the verge of collapse and did not rule out leaving this enclave due to the lack of the necessary ammunition supply, assured this afternoon that his mercenary troops had taken Bakhmut. Shortly before, he had spread on social networks that their lines had advanced a total of 500 meters, that “fierce and bloody fighting” was taking place and that the Ukrainians were “launching” their last reserves. He added that Wagner’s members were “close to accomplishing his mission.” “The enemy has 0.6 square kilometers left. We are close to accomplishing the mission. The fighting is still going on, the enemy throws up its reserves”, he pointed out.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has not yet confirmed the conquest, but this morning, in its daily bulletin, it denoted a nuance of strength that has not been common in recent weeks. According to this report, the mercenaries were fighting in the western area of the city, while Russian troops held off Ukrainian soldiers on the flanks. Prigozhin wanted to make it clear, however, that victory would be his alone. “There are only Wagner soldiers here,” he stated on his Telegram channel, where he announced that this afternoon Russian flags will be raised on all public buildings (or what remains of them) in the city. However, his credit is slim. Weeks ago he already recorded himself on video placing the banner on the roof of the City Hall as a demonstration that he had conquered the city, and then it was shown that he only controlled part of its streets.
The crossing of contradictory messages between the mercenary chief and the kyiv government has surprised President Volodímir Zelenski at the G7 summit in Hiroshima (Japan). For the moment, he has not made any statement and for most of the day he has followed his agenda of bilateral meetings with leaders such as the Frenchman Emmanuel Macron or the German Olaf Scholz. Should Bakhmut fall, it is not ruled out that Zelensky will return immediately to Ukraine, although tomorrow, Sunday, he plans to appear before the leaders of the Group. The battle for this city has lasted 224 days and, if the news coming from the front is finally true, it would be a very important moral victory for Vladimir Putin and his troops. Prigozhin affirms so firmly that the conquest is already done that he has announced that he will hand over Bakhmut to the Russian army on the 25th.
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