Monitoring Desk
MOSCOW: The head of the Russian Wagner mercenary group said his fighters captured another village near eastern Bakhmut city of Ukraine on Saturday.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, in a statement released by his press service, said the Wagner group “took complete control” of the Yagidne village, north of Bakhmut.
Yagidne village lies on the northern outskirts of Bakhmut, just over a mile (less than two kilometers) from the city’s center, which has become a main political and symbolic prize in the battle to take control of the eastern Donbas region.
Prigozhin’s press service also published a photograph showing masked fighters holding a Wagner flag in front of the entrance sign of the village.
Wagner accuses Ukrainian forces of blowing up dam near Bakhmut
While quoting Wagner’s press service, the Russian news agency TASS accused Ukrainian forces of blowing up a dam near Bakhmut city in order to slow the Russian advance.
However, the claim could not be verified immediately.
Moscow has been fighting to take Bakhmut city for several months, and sharp fault lines have emerged between the Russian army and Wagner, with Prigozhin accusing the military of not supplying his fighters with the required ammunition.
On Friday, Prigozhin claimed that the Wagner group’s fighters had captured Berkhivka village north of Bakhmut. Last week the group had also claimed to capture Paraskoviivka village.
Although capturing the Bakhmut region would be a major win for Moscow, its strategic value is contested.
