Vladimir Putin has praised Russian troops and the paramilitary Wagner Group for capturing the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
The longest and bloodiest fight of the 15-month conflict would culminate with the capture of the largely flattened city, and Russia has often declared victory there in error in recent months.
Insisting that battle is still going on for control of the Donetsk Oblast’s transport and logistical hub, Ukrainian officials quickly refuted these assertions.
Reports that Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed earlier today that his army has lost control were also misinterpreted.
Speaking alongside US president Joe Biden at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, the Ukrainian president was asked if Bakhmut is still in Ukraine’s hands.
He then replied ‘I think no’ in answer to a journalist, who stated ‘the Russians say they have taken Bakhmut’.
‘You have to understand that there is nothing,’ the leader added. ‘They [Russians] destroyed everything.
‘For today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts. There is nothing in this place.’
In a Facebook post, his spokesperson Sergii Nykyforov clarified the response: ‘As for the answers of the president of Ukraine to the questions about Bakhmut.
‘Reporter’s question: “Russians said they have taken Bakhmut.” President’s reply: “I think no.” Thus the president denied taking Bakhmut.”
Russia’s defence ministry had said early on Sunday that Wagner forces, with the support of Russian troops, had captured the city.
It came about eight hours after a similar claim by leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who shared a video on his Telegram channel in which his fighters waved Russian flags against a backdrop of ruins.
‘Today on May 20, around midday, Bakhmut was taken in its entirety,’ he said in the video, adding that Wagner fighters would search the city before handing it over to the Russian army.
‘By May 25 we will completely examine [Bakhmut], create the necessary lines of defence and hand it to the military.’
The claims come after a week in which Ukrainian forces have made their most rapid gains for six months on the northern and southern flanks ahead of a long-anticipated counteroffensive.
Whether they have left the city or not, troops have been slowly pulling back inside it, to clusters of buildings on the western edge.
Meanwhile, to the north and south, they have seized large areas from the Russian army.