The Russian paramilitary group Wagner claimed responsibility for the seizure of the town hall of Bakhmout on Monday, saying that this conquest meant that it now controlled the city “in the legal sense”, Ukraine assuring for its part that it still held this locality of east of the country where fierce fighting has been raging for months.
“In the legal sense, Bakhmout was captured. The enemy is concentrated in the western areas,” Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Telegram.
A video accompanying his message shows Prigojine waving a Russian flag with an inscription in honor of Vladlen Tatarskiï, a Russian military blogger fervent defender of the offensive in Ukraine killed Sunday by the explosion of a bomb. This attack in a cafe in the historic center of Saint Petersburg also left 25 injured, according to the authorities.
“Here are the guys who took Bakhmout”
“The commanders of the units that took the town hall and the whole center will go and raise this flag,” Prigozhin said. “Here is the Wagner Private Military Company, here are the guys who took Bakhmout. From a legal point of view, it is ours, ”he claims.
The Ukrainian General Staff claimed the opposite. “The enemy has not stopped its assault on Bakhmout. However, the Ukrainian defenders bravely hold the city, repelling numerous enemy attacks,” the Ukrainian General Staff posted on its Facebook page on Sunday evening. “Bahmut, Avdiivka and Maryinka remain at the center of hostilities,” he added in his update on Monday at dawn. “The enemy does not stop its assaults on Bakhmout, trying to take complete control of it. Our soldiers repelled more than 20 enemy attacks,” he continued.
A city of some 70,000 inhabitants before the conflict, Bakhmout has been the scene of particularly violent fighting for months. Due to the length of the battle and the heavy losses suffered by both sides, the city has become the symbol of the struggle between Russians and Ukrainians for control of the industrial region of Donbass.
Russian troops have advanced in recent months north and south of the city, cutting several Ukrainian supply routes and seizing its eastern part. On March 20, Yevgeny Prigojine claimed that Wagner controlled 70% of Bakhmout.
Ukraine believes that the battle for Bakhmout is essential to contain Russian forces on the entire eastern front, even if analysts judge the strategic importance of the city limited.
“Particularly hot”, admits Zelensky
In his Sunday evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged that the situation in Bakhmout was difficult for his troops. “I am grateful to our warriors fighting near Avdiivka, Maryinka and Bakhmout. Especially Bakhmout! It’s particularly hot there today! said Zelensky.
The situation in the region “is still very tense,” said Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar on Sunday, before the announcement of Wagner’s chief. “The enemy is trying to engage not only Wagner’s fighters but also professional paratrooper units. Excessively high man casualties do not stop the enemy,” she added.