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There is "nothing" left of the decimated Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, although he stopped short of confirming Russia had taken control of the eastern settlement.
"There is nothing, they destroyed everything," the Ukrainian leader told the media. "Bakhmut is only in our hearts."
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday that the "offensive actions" of the Wagner Group of mercenaries and the support of Russian soldiers had led to "the liberation of the city of Artyomovsk," referring to Bakhmut using its Soviet-era name.
Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin also said in a video posted to Telegram on Saturday that Bakhmut "was fully taken" at midday on May 20.
"We have completely taken the whole city, from house to house," Prigozhin said. The Kremlin's press service said Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the Wagner soldiers and Russian troops, adding that "distinguished" fighters would receive state awards.
Ukraine has denied that Russia has captured the city, which has been a hotspot of violence in eastern Ukraine for months. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Saturday that the "situation is critical" in Bakhmut, but Kyiv's troops were maintaining defenses in the city.
Bakhmut is still "at the epicenter of the fighting," the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in an update posted to social media on Sunday morning. "Fighting for the city of Bakhmut continues," the General Staff emphasized.
The city has been labeled a meat grinder, racking up heavy casualty counts on both sides. However, analysts have said the city's significance is more symbolic than strategic.
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War think tank said it had not seen geolocated footage to back up Prigozhin's announcement as of noon Eastern Time on Saturday.
"Prigozhin's claimed victory over the remaining areas in Bakhmut is purely symbolic even if true," the think tank said in its daily update on Saturday. If Russian forces did capture the remaining urban blocks Ukraine has held in Bakhmut, they would not be "tactically or operationally significant," the think tank added.
On Saturday, the British Defense Ministry said that in the previous four days, Russia had likely "redeployed up to several battalions to reinforce the Bakhmut sector" in the face of Ukrainian gains.
Capturing Bakhmut is likely "the key immediate war aim" for Moscow, the government department said in an update posted to Twitter.
Newsweek has reached out to the Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries via email for further comment.
Update 05/21/23 at 4.20 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
About the writer
Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more