Russia celebrates victory at Bakhmut, Kiev claims fighting continues

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on 21 May in Japan, said few are left of Bakhmut and that the city has almost completely destroyed.

Asked whether Bakhmut was under Ukraine's control, Zelensky was not fully clear, but said: “I think not”, which was interpreted as confirmation of Bakhmut's loss.

“Today, Bakhmuti is only in our hearts”, said Zelensky in Hiroshima, where he was invited to the G7 group summit, attended by leaders of the most economically developed countries in the world.

However, the Ukrainian president's office later clarified that Zelensky did not state that the city had <x0 euros in”.

Ukrainian President Sergiy Nykyforov's spokesman denied claims that Bakhmut had fallen into the hands of Russian forces.

He told CNN that Zelensky's response, “I think not”, referred to Russian claims that they had invaded the city.

The president denied that Bakhmut had received”, Nykyforov said.

The Ukrainian president's statement comes hours after the Russian Defence Ministry announced that private army forces Wagner, backed by Russian troops, had taken Bakhmut.

Wagner's founder, Yevgeny Pigozin, earlier published a video claiming his forces controlled the entire city, although the Ukrainian government quickly denied it.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated the soldiers “on the invasion of the town”, with the message that the most deserving will be rewarded, Russian news agencies reported.

These claims come after Ukraine reportedly achieved tangible progress in the field of battle, in the north and south districts of Bakhmut.

These claims also come at a time when Ukraine is preparing for a counteroffensive, which is expected at one or more locations along the battleline, which is more than 1,000 miles [1,000 km] long.

Western officials estimate that the number of Russian soldiers killed and injured in Bakhmut is behaved between 20,000 and 30,000, while the Ukrainian army also paid a heavy price.

Russia and Ukraine have been fighting for months in Bakhmu, and the battle for that city is longer since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the end of February 2022. / REL/