Iran Press/ Europe: Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the paramilitary force, said on Monday that his troops, involved in a months-long effort to encircle and capture the bombed-out town, had raised a Russian flag on its administrative building.
“From a legal point of view, Bakhmut has been taken. The enemy is concentrated in the western parts,” Prigozhin said in an audio message posted on his press service’s Telegram account.
Prigozhin has previously made claims on Bakhmut that were premature.
Ukrainian military leaders said on Monday after Prigozhin’s video was released that enemy troops had tried to take control of the town. Still, their forces had “repelled more than 20 enemy attacks”.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised Ukrainian troops’ defense of the city earlier on Sunday.
Ukrainian military commanders have said their counteroffensive is not far off, but have stressed the importance of holding Bakhmut in the meantime.
Prominent Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said fighting had engulfed the center of Bakhmut. Ukrainian forces had repelled 25 enemy attacks, but Russian forces had captured the AZOM metal plant, which Ukrainian troops had defended for days.
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