The president promises medals, honors and honor to the soldiers who have distinguished themselves in the battle, Russian state media reported last night. – Vladimir Putin congratulated Wagner’s units and all units in the Russian forces who helped them with the necessary support and strength on the flanks in the completion of the operation to liberate the city, says a statement from the Kremlin, writes the Tass news agency. A short time earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense sent out a message stating that Russia now has full control over the Ukrainian city. Calling Bukhmut by Russian name – As a result of Wagner’s offensive, with the support of our forces’ artillery and air force, the liberation of Artyomovsk is now complete, said the statement from the Ministry of Defense in Moscow shortly after 11pm on Saturday evening Norwegian time. Artyomovsk was the name of the city during the Soviet Union. A few hours before, the commander of the mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed that his forces then had full control over Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. His claim was rejected by Ukrainian authorities. Ukraine has not yet commented on Putin’s claim, which came several hours later. – We took the whole town, house by house – Today, at 12 o’clock, Bakhmut was completely conquered. We took the whole city, house by house, Prigozhin said in a video message where he appears together with a group of soldiers with Russian flags and banners with Wagner’s symbol. The sound of explosions can be heard in the distance on the video. Prigozhin also claimed that the Wagner group should withdraw from Bakhmut from 25 May and give control to units from the regular Russian army. The news agency Reuters has not been able to verify Prigozhin’s claims about the conquest. They were flatly rejected by the Ukrainian defense when they became known. – This is not true. Our units are still fighting in Bakhmut, said spokesman for the Ukrainian forces, Serhiy Cherevaty. Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maljar wrote earlier on Saturday on Telegram that there were still fierce battles in the city, and that the Ukrainian forces were holding their ground in one district. She still referred to the situation as “critical”. – Unlikely The statement from the Wagner boss on Saturday seems to be in sharp contrast to statements as late as Friday night, when Prigozhin stated that an imminent conquest of Bakhmut was unlikely. – It is unlikely that Bakhmut will be completely conquered tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, he then wrote in a post on the Telegram messaging service. He pointed to a suburb where there was an “impregnable fortress formed by a series of apartment blocks”, southwest of the city centre. Wagner has led the several-month-long attack on Bakhmut, an attack that is seen as the longest and bloodiest of the war in Ukraine. At the beginning of May, Prigozhin released videos in which he complained about the lack of ammunition and said that the group should withdraw from Bakhmut on 10 May. It didn’t happen. Reinforcements While several reports indicate some Russian progress in the city itself, both Ukrainian and Russian sources have confirmed that Ukrainian forces have advanced on the flanks. The British military intelligence service wrote in a Twitter message on Saturday that it is “highly likely” that Russia has deployed several battalions in the Bakhmut area in the wake of this. – The Russian leadership probably still sees the conquest of Bakhmut as a central, short-term goal that can make it possible for them to declare a certain degree of success in the conflict, the British service wrote. Prigozhin himself has admitted that Bakhmut, which before the war had 70,000 inhabitants, has no special strategic importance. The city has nevertheless gained great symbolic importance, not least because both parties to the conflict have suffered heavy losses in the battles there. Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed on Saturday that the mercenary group has full control over Bakhmut in Ukraine. Photo: AP – Symbolic victory The battle for Bakhmut has cost Moscow and Kyiv great losses. But the victory means a bright spot for Russia, which has suffered a series of defeats in Ukraine. At the same time, Ukraine has not yet launched what is supposed to be an announced counter-offensive. Zelenskyj has previously warned that if Bakhmut fell, it would open the way for Russian forces to take more parts of the Donbas area. But the American think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) points out that if it is true that Bakhmut is the sign, then it will only be a symbolic victory, reports the Danish news agency Ritzau. The city has no major military significance, nor does the city provide Russian forces with any particularly strong positions from which they can defend themselves against a Ukrainian counteroffensive, ISW points out. – Low importance Not even two military experts in Sweden think the city has enough importance. – This has no real impact on the battlefield, says Johan Huovinen at Försvarshögskolan in Sweden to the Swedish news agency TT. He spoke after Prigozhin made his claim that the city was taken, and before Putin’s congratulations came. Huovinen said at the time that it is not improbable that the information is true. The former lieutenant colonel Jörgen Elfving says the same to TT. He points out that the city functions as a hub. The city can give the Russians the opportunity to continue westward. – But the question is whether one from the Russian side has the ability to maintain progress shortly after Bakhmut’s alleged fall. I doubt it, says Elfving. The two military experts also seem to agree that the city largely only has symbolic value. None of them believe that the situation in Bakhmut will have a greater effect on the expected Ukrainian spring offensive.
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Putin congratulated Wagner on the Bakhmut victory – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
