Wagner’s Prigozhin claims Bakhmut is captured in its entirety, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry refutes his claims

Head of PMC Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin claims that his mercenaries have managed to completely capture the city of Bakhmut. His video message was posted by the press service of the military company.

UPDATE 4:51 PM
Ukraine’s Defence Ministry has refuted the claims about Russia’s capture of Bakhmut.

“There’s heaving fighting happening in Bakhmut. The situation is critical. Still, our troops are holding the line in the Samolet district.

“As of today, our defenders are in control of some industrial and infrastructure facilities in this district and a private sector,” Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine Hanna Maliar says.

Spokesman of Ukraine’s Eastern Group of Forces Serhiy Cherevaty told Reuters that Prigozhin’s claim was untrue. “This is false. Our units are continuing to fight in Bakhmut,” he said.

According to Prigozhin, the operation to capture the city began on 8 October and lasted 224 days.

“Starting from the 25th, we will be withdrawing our units [to give them] a break and for retraining. We fought for 427 days, beginning on 19 March 2022, when the Homeland started needing our help. We have completely captured the entire city, from building to building, so that no one can meticulously reproach us for not seizing one small part [of the city],” Prigozhin claims.

The head of Wagner says that the city will be prepared to be handed over to the military before 25 May.

Prigozhin has thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian colonel general Mikhail Mizintsev, and Russian general Sergey Surovikin. He has also once again criticised Russia’s Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

Furthermore, Prigozhin has promised to post the entire video of the flags being raised in Bakhmut only after 18 PM Moscow time due to issues with the Internet.