The chief of the private military Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed on Saturday that his forces have taken complete control of the long-contested city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. “The operation to capture Bakhmut lasted 224 days,” he said in a video posted to Telegram, seeking to claim a final victory for the city. CNN could not independently verify Prigozhin’s claim, but an initial response from the Ukrainian side disputed it. “As of now, our defenders control certain industrial and infrastructure facilities in the area and the private sector,” she said. While Russian forces have continued their slow street-by-street advance in the city itself for many months, over the last two weeks Ukrainian forces have managed to re-capture small pockets of territory held by Russian troops to the northwest and southwest of the city.

Source: CNN May 20, 2023 19:53 UTC