“Although we currently only control a small part of Bakhmut, it is important to defend it. This allows us to enter the city if the situation changes, which it certainly will,” he wrote. on Telegram.
Sersky added: “We continue to advance on the outskirts of Bakhmut and approach the control of the city in a tactical encirclement”, stressing that Kyiv “continues to defend it”.
Russia confirmed on Saturday that it had “completely liberated” Bakhmut, which has seen the longest and fiercest battles since its invasion of the country began in February 2022.
For his part, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Japan that the city was “not occupied” by Russian forces.
On Sunday, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ghana Malyar said Ukraine had “partially cordoned off” the town of Bakhmut, after Kiev forces recently penetrated the north and south of the town.
However, the commander of the Russian Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose men are fighting on the front lines in Bakhmut and who was the first to announce the fall of the city, reiterated on Sunday that the city had been controlled “until ‘at the end “. last centimeter” of its “legal borders”.
“There is not a single Ukrainian soldier in Bakhmut,” he said.
For its part, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said on Sunday that 10 people, including a girl, had been evacuated from Bakhmut.
“The rescue operation was difficult (…) in the middle of the mines and under the fire of the occupants”, she explained.
“If there is a hell, it is in Bakhmut,” said the Ukrainian ministry quoting one of the evacuees.
Read the Latest World News Today on The Eastern Herald.
