The Wagners announced that they took the disputed city of Bakhmut

The Russian paramilitary group Wagner claimed on Sunday the seizure “in the legal sense” of Bakhmut / Artemovsk, in eastern Ukraine, and said that the city’s administrative building was under Russian control.

“In a legal sense, Bakhmut was taken; the enemy is concentrated in the western areas,” said the head of the group, Yevgeny Prigozhin.on his Telegram channel, according to the AFP news agency.

“The commanders of the units that seized the administration and the central neighborhood will now raise those flags (the Russian and the paramilitary group),” Prigozhin said. in a video.

He added that the Russian flag carried a message in memory of Vladlen Tatarski, Russian blogger and war correspondent who died today in an explosion during a public presentation in Saint Petersburg that also injured some 30 people.

Wagner group leader announces the taking of Bakhmut https://t.co/1w4Kv4cHis

— EP International (@EPinternacional) April 2, 2023

Russia “continues to concentrate the bulk of its efforts on offensive actions in the Lyman, Bakhmut Avdiivka and Mariinka sectors,” The General Staff of the Ukrainian army had reported hours before, assuring that “numerous enemy attacks against Bakhmut” had been repelled.

Since the start of the year, Moscow troops have claimed some gains, some taking place around Bakhmut in the eastern Donbass basin, partially occupied by pro-Russian separatist forces since 2014.