Wagner Group chief says fierce battle for Bakhmut continues
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The Head of Russia's private Wagner PMC said on Sunday that fierce fighting was ongoing in the northern parts of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
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Ukrainian servicemen on the frontline near Bakhmut. (Reuters)
The founder of the Russian military company Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, which is fighting in the war in Ukraine, said on Sunday that battles for the city of Bakhmut, also known as Artyomovsk, are being fought for each street and house.
Prigozhin told reporters, when asked to confirm reports about Ukrainian troops retreating from Bakhmut, "let me clarify the situation. The Ukrainian armed forces are not retreating anywhere. They fight to the last. Fierce battles are waged for every street, house, and stairwell in the northern quarters of Artyomovsk," as quoted by the press service of his group, Concord.
Bakhmut, located north of Donetsk, has been a battleground for months. During the war in Ukraine, it served as a critical transportation hub for Ukrainian troops stationed in Donbass.
Earlier on Friday, Prigozhin announced that the town of Mykolaivka in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) had been taken under control.
On January 26, the US Treasury announced that the US has designated the Wagner Group a transnational criminal organization.
Earlier in January, Prigozhin announced that Soledar was now under the control of Russian forces.
Prigozhin added that civilians have been evacuated from the city and that 500 Ukrainian troops were killed after they refused to capitulate.
