Wagner Troops Raise Flag Above Bakhmut City Hall, Fighting Goes On—Reports

Russia has claimed to have won the battle of Bakhmut with the Wagner mercenaries alleging they have "taken" the city by raising a flag above the City Hall.

Ukraine has said its troops continue to "hold the city," which is in the east of the country and has seen some of the bloodiest fighting since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded his neighbor in February last year.

Experts have told Newsweek previously that Bakhmut itself doesn't hold a lot of strategic value but the city's location is key for both sides. For Ukraine, Bakhmut may represent another Russian military loss in addition to its failures in northeast and southern Ukraine. Russia, however, plans to use the city's position to launch artillery strikes on the cities of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk.

The fighting in the city has intensified in recent days, with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky describing the war as "especially hot" there during a TV address over the weekend.

On Sunday, the head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said his soldiers had raised the Russian flag over Bakhmut's City Hall. He acknowledged that Ukrainian troops were still defending positions elsewhere in the city.

Posting a night-vision video clip on the social media site Telegram, he said: "From a legal point of view, Bakhmut has been taken. The enemy is concentrated in the western parts." He said a tribute to Russian pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky—who was killed in an explosion at a St. Petersburg café on Sunday—had been inscribed on the flag.

According to the Reuters news agency, Prigozhin has made claims of victory in the past that have later proved premature.

The Ukrainian military said on Monday that their fight continued and the city had not been lost. Reuters quoted a spokesperson as saying: "The enemy continues its assault on the city of Bakhmut. However, our defenders courageously hold the city."

Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesman for the Odesa military administration, mocked Prigozhin's claims. "What does it mean: if the flag of Ukraine is hung on a Moscow building, it means that Moscow is taken?" he said on Telegram.

Newsweek has emailed Russia's foreign ministry and Ukraine's ministry of defense for comment.

Bakhmut was a mining city with a population of 70,000 before it was repeatedly bombarded, leaving its streets in ruins and forcing residents to flee.

Both sides have suffered heavy casualties there, with the Russian side reportedly faring worse. Newsweek has not independently verified the figures.

The Wagner Group has drafted convicts as part of its mercenary army. British intelligence reports suggested that up to half of the convicts are thought to have been killed or wounded so far.