Prigozhin stated that Russia controls more than 80% of Bakhmut, AFU denied it
Yevhen Prigozhin, the founder and financier of the Wagner company, said that Russian troops control most of the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
This is reported by Censor.NET with reference to CNN.
"We are fully focused on Bakhmut, continuing to carry out combat tasks. In Bakhmut, the greater part of it - that is, more than 80% - is under our control, including the entire administrative center, factories, factories, city administration, - said Prigozhin. - What is left, - is a part of high-rise residential blocks, where fortified districts are made. There are tunnels under these high-rise buildings."
Ukrainian officials denied Prigozhin's statement.
"This statement by Prigozhin is not true," Serhiy Cherevaty, the spokesman for the eastern group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, told CNN. I just contacted the commander of one of the brigades that defends the city. I can confidently say that the Ukrainian Defense Forces control a much larger percentage of the territory Bakhmut".
"Prigozhin needs to show at least some kind of victory in the city, which they have been trying to capture for nine months in a row, that's why he makes such statements," Cherevaty believes.
The publication emphasizes that the founder of "Wagner" is known for making false statements about the advancement of his forces in the east of Ukraine. Last week, he released a low-quality video of himself raising a flag at dawn and declaring that Bakhmut had been "taken", despite ongoing fighting in and around the city. According to Western officials, his statement was seen as a "pretty desperate" effort.
