Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier Sunday congratulated Russia’s private military group, Wagner, and the Russian army, a day after Wagner’s chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said his group had captured the city.
“The continuous advance of our forces in the suburbs makes it difficult for the enemy to be in Bakhmut. Our forces have partially surrounded the city,” Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ghana Malyar said on Telegram.
It added that the Ukrainian forces continue to advance along the outskirts of Bakhmut and captured part of the heights overlooking the city.
Maliar wrote the comments on the Telegram app shortly after Putin said the battle at Bakhmut had ended in a Russian victory.
She explained, “Our forces control the city by partially encircling it, which gives us the opportunity to destroy the enemy.”
“Therefore, the enemy must defend itself in the part of the city it controls,” she added.
Malyar added that the Ukrainian forces are still defending the industrial facilities and infrastructure facilities in Bakhmut, in addition to a sector of the city.
Ukrainian conflict over the fall of Bakhmut
On Sunday, Ukraine announced that it was still fighting for control of the eastern city of Bakhmut, after Zelensky said earlier that the city was “only in our hearts”.
During the past hours, a state of conflict arose regarding the statements issued by Ukrainian officials regarding the fall of Bakhmut.
What did Zelinsky say about Bakhmut?
Zelensky said, before a meeting with US President Joe Biden in Japan, that he believed that “Ukraine lost the city, but he added that you have to understand that there is nothing there … They (the Russians) destroyed everything.”
He continued, “Today Bakhmut is only in our hearts. There is nothing in this place.”
Zelensky was speaking alongside the US president at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan.
“It’s a tragedy,” said the Ukrainian president.
Zelensky’s spokesman
For his part, a spokesman for the Ukrainian president said that Zelensky did not confirm the control of the Russian forces over the besieged city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
Sergey Nikiforov wrote on Facebook: “The reporter’s question was: The Russians said they took control of Bakhmut… The president’s response was: I don’t think so.”
In Ukrainian, he added: “In this way, the president denied the capture of Bakhmut.”
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