UPDATE - Wagner claims control of Bakhmut, Ukraine says situation 'critical'

UPDATES WITH STATEMENT FROM UKRAINIAN OFFICIALS; REVISES HEADLINE, DECK

By Anadolu staff

MOSCOW/KYIV (AA) – The head of the Wagner paramilitary group on Saturday said his forces have taken complete control of Bakhmut, the Ukrainian city at the center of recent fighting.

Ukraine denied the claim but admitted that the situation there is “critical.”

In a video posted on Telegram, Yevgeny Prigozhin said the city was taken in its entirety by Wagner forces at around noon (0900GMT).

Prigozhin said the operation, which he called the “Bakhmut meat grinder,” started on Oct. 8 last year and went on for 224 days.

The Russian army was not part of this operation, he said.

However, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar denied that Bakhmut had fallen.

“Heavy battles are ongoing in Bakhmut. The situation is critical,” she said in a Telegram post.

She said Ukrainian troops are holding on in Bakhmut’s Litak district.

Separately, military spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi said Ukrainian soldiers are fighting in Bakhmut, but it is clear that they will leave sooner or later for security reasons.

He told a local radio station that Ukrainian forces were left with a very small area and it was not possible to keep a lot of personnel in that position.

Russian forces have been trying for months to capture Bakhmut, a transport and logistics hub in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, which is part of the largely Russian-speaking industrialized Donbas region.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​