The military personnel of Wagner group had raised the Russian flag over the administrative building of Bakhmut, a Ukrainian City, said head of the group.
The city of Bakhmut has witness one of the bloodiest fight of the war which was started last year and in its second year. The eastern part of the city has been destroyed by the bombings. Both sides have reported heavy casualties.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner group posted a video on telegram on Sunday in which he said Bakhmut has been taken from a legal point of view. The adversary Ukrainian soldiers are concentrated in western parts of the city. He said his personnel had hosted a Russian flag over the administrative building located in the city centre but admitted that Ukrainian soldiers were still holding the ground positions.
The claim made by Prigozhin can’t be confirmed as he had maid premature claims previously.
On Monday, Ukraine denied the claim and said that the Russian troops were “very far” from capturing the Bakhmut. The fighting around the administrative building have become extreme.
Ukrainian military said that the enemy’s assault is continues on Bakhmut but their soldiers are holding the city bravely.
Serhiy Cherevatyi, the official while denying claim said by telephone that the flag was raised on some kind of toilet by them (The Wagner group), attached it to the side nobody knows, hung their cloth and claimed to capture the city.
He added that battles are still going on around the city council’s building. He further said Bakhmut is Ukrainian and they are very far away from capturing city.
Spokesperson for the Odesa military administration, Serhiy Bratchuk also denied the claim and said on telegram that if the flag of Ukraine raised on the Moscow building, it means Moscow is captured, he asked.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian President thanked troops fighting in Bakhmut and other towns in his Sunday night video conference.
According to Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov, the fighting had swamp over the city centre and claimed Ukrainian soldiers had fought off the several enemy attacks. He also said that the AZOM metal plant had captured by Russian soldiers. It is not verified yet.
Bakhmut was a mining city and logistic hub located in Donetsk Province with the population of 70,000 before Ukraine invaded by Russia.
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians displaced and killed. Forces on both side have reported heavy casualties. Many cities have been destroyed by the Russia and claim to have captured nearly one fifth of Ukraine.
The war is still far from over. Last month, President Vladimir Putin announced they will deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus which is the first deployment outside the Russian boundaries since the 1991. On the other hand, NATO is supplying arms and ammunitions to Ukraine.
With inputs from various news agencies.
