PMC Wagner leader Prigozhin: ‘Bakhmut legally captured’

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of mercenary group PMC Wagner, has stated that a Russian flag has been hoisted over the city hall in Bakhmut. The video was posted in the Telegram channel of Prigozhin’s press service.

“2 April, 23.00 local time. Behind me is the local city hall. <…> We have legally captured Bakhmut. The commanders of the units who captured the city hall and the entire central quarter will bear and put up these banners,” Prigozhin said.

Prigozhin also noted that one of the flags was devoted to Vladlen Tatarsky, a pro-war blogger who was killed in Saint Petersburg yesterday. He also added that the Ukrainian troops were still present “in the Western quarters of the city”.

In addition, Prigozhin confirmed that he was related to the Street Bar cafe in St. Petersburg where Tatarsky was killed in an explosion. “Indeed, I provided the cafe to the patriotic movement Cyber Front Z, and they held various seminars there. Most likely, this tragedy happened at a seminar,” Prigozhin said.

Fights for Bakhmut in the Donetsk region have been ongoing since July 2022. The US Institute for the Study of War reported last week that Russian troops had captured approximately two thirds of the city’s territory.

“Wagner is likely working to consolidate gains in northern and central Bakhmut to push towards the city centre and expand its zone of control into western Bakhmut,” the experts for ISW noted back then.