Source: Independent [UK]
“Bakhmut is ‘unlikely’ to fall to Russian mercenary troops in the next two days, Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin has said. The Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is in ruins after months of intense fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. ‘Bakhmut has still not been taken,’ Prigozhin said in a voice message posted on Telegram. ‘Bakhmut is unlikely to be taken either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.’ … Russia has been trying to capture Bakhmut since last summer in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war, but Ukrainian defenders have held out. If Russia took the city, it would provide a stepping stone to advance on two bigger cities it has long coveted in the Donetsk region: Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. It comes as deputy Ukrainian defence minister Hanna Maliar said Kyiv’s forces are repelling attempts by Russian forces to recapture land they have lost around Bakhmut.” (05/19/23)