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Post by Admin on May 19, 2023 16:51:19 GMT
The fight rages on in Ukraine's eastern city under seige, Bakhmut, which "has seen the fiercest urban combat of anywhere since the Second World War", writes Sky News' Alex Rossi from the frontline.
If Russia captures the city to build on its current dominance there, it will be a major military and psychological blow to Ukraine, but will the cost be worth it for Vladimir Putin?
The chief of the Russian private military group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed Saturday that his forces have taken complete control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut after months of brutal fighting.
“The operation to capture Bakhmut lasted 224 days,” he said in a video posted to Telegram, seeking to claim a final victory in the city.
CNN could not independently verify Prigozhin’s claim, but an initial response from the Ukrainian side disputed it.
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, in a Telegram post less than an hour after the Russian mercenary’s claim was published, admitted the situation in Bakhmut was “critical” but said Ukrainian troops were still “holding the defense” in a district on Bakhmut’s western-most edge.
“As of now, our defenders control certain industrial and infrastructure facilities in the area and the private sector,” she said.
Prigozhin added that his forces will hand the control of Bakhmut to the Russian military on May 25.
“Until May 25, we will completely inspect it, create the necessary defense lines and hand it over to the military so that they can continue to work, and we ourselves will go to field camps,” he said.
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Post by Admin on May 20, 2023 20:50:01 GMT
The Ukrainian military has denied claims by the head of the Wagner Mercenary Group that the besieged city of Bakhmut is now under full Russian control.
Our International Correspondent Alex Rossi reports from the eastern city of Dnipro.
Ukraine has denied claims by Russia that it has taken full control of Bakhmut but warned the situation in the key battle town is “critical”.
Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s defence minister, pushed back on the claim by Yevgeny Prigozhin that his Wagner Group of mercenaries had seized the town around lunchtime.
"Heavy fighting in Bakhmut. The situation is critical," she said on the Telegram messaging app.
"As of now, our defenders control some industrial and infrastructure facilities in the area and the private sector."
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Post by Admin on May 20, 2023 22:17:07 GMT
The city of Artemovsk (Ukrainian name Bakhmut) in the DPR has been completely taken under the control of Russian forces. This was stated by the founder of PMC "Wagner" Yevgeny Prigozhin. According to him, the assault operation lasted 224 days. From May 25, the Wagnerites will begin to leave the city for rest and retraining. In Kiev, the capture of Bakhmut was denied, but they acknowledged that the situation is critical - the Armed Forces of Ukraine are holding the last area of private housing in the southwestern part of the city, for which there are heavy battles.
The fighters of the private military company "Wagner" completely liberated Artemovsk (Bakhmut). This was stated by the founder of PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin , a video with which, against the background of the destroyed city, was published by his press service.
”May 20, 2023. This afternoon at 12 o'clock Bakhmut was completely taken. The last section, the so-called "high-rise buildings of the aircraft." The operation to capture Bakhmut, the Bakhmut meat grinder, lasted 224 days. It began on October 8, 2022,” he said.
The businessman emphasized that the PMC fighters voluntarily took part in a special operation in Ukraine . Prigozhin thanked the Russian people, the dead and surviving soldiers, generals Sergei Surovikin and Mikhail Mezentsev , and President Vladimir Putin for their support.
At the same time, the founder of the PMC said that during the Bakhmut operation, the fighters fought not only with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but also with the bureaucracy, which "put spokes in the wheels." Because of this, the losses on the battlefield were much higher.
Prigozhin also said that by May 25, Wagner members would carefully inspect the occupied city, create the necessary defense lines and hand them over to the military. After that, the PMC will begin to withdraw its units for rest and retraining in field camps. At the same time, the founder of Wagner promised to return if "our country, our people, our families need us again."
At the end of his speech, the businessman addressed separately to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky , who is currently at the G7 summit in Japan . Prigozhin stressed that the Ukrainian soldiers fought bravely, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine may be able to live up to their past statements, becoming the second most powerful army in the world after the first - the Wagner PMC.
“Today, when you see Biden, kiss him on the top of his head and say hello for me,” Prigozhin concluded.
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Post by Admin on May 21, 2023 4:04:10 GMT
(Reuters) - Russia claimed on Saturday to have fully captured the smashed eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which would mark an end to the longest and bloodiest battle of the 15-month war. The assault on the largely levelled 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.  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 defence ministry said in a one-line statement.  Kyiv denied Prigozhin's claim earlier on Saturday, but did not have an immediate response to the defence ministry's statement. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated troops on capturing the city and said those who had distinguished themselves would be given awards, domestic Russian news agencies reported. The claims came after a week in which Ukrainian forces have made their most rapid gains for six months on Bakhmut's northern and southern flanks.  Prigozhin, who has repeatedly denounced Russia's regular military for abandoning ground captured earlier by his men, said his own forces would pull out of Bakhmut in five days to rest, handing the ruins over to the regular military. "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, had told Reuters: "This is not true. Our units are fighting in Bakhmut." |
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Post by Admin on May 21, 2023 21:23:53 GMT
Confirming Moscow's victory in Bakhmut, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the Wagner group and Russian troops. Putin thanks the mercenary group for 'liberating' what Russia calls Artyomovsk. Ukraine however continues to deny Russian claims and says the fighting is still on. Watch this video for details. Speaking to reporters, Zelensky is asked about his visit to Hiroshima’s peace museum. He says the pictures of Hiroshima in ruins after the atomic bomb dropped in 1945 reminded him of present-day Bakhmut.  He goes on to talk about the rebuilt Hiroshima, calling it a modern city which is "alive". He says in the future there will be “reconstruction and recovery” of Ukraine like there was in Hiroshima. |
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