KYIV: Kyiv scorned Russian claims to have captured eastern Bakhmut on Monday (Apr 3), saying its foes had raised a victory flag over “some kind of toilet” and that Ukrainian forces had repelled nearly 20 attacks along the city’s front line in the last 24 hours.
The battle for the mining city and logistics hub of Bakhmut has been one of the bloodiest of the conflict, now in its second year, with many casualties on both sides and the city largely destroyed by bombardments.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary force spearheading the siege, said on Sunday his troops had raised a Russian flag on the city-centre administrative building even though Ukrainian soldiers still held some western positions.
“From a legal point of view, Bakhmut has been taken,” said Prigozhin, who has previously made premature claims.
But Ukraine’s military said fighting was still raging around the city council building, as well as in other nearby towns.
“Bakhmut is Ukrainian and they have not captured anything and are very far from doing that,” Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the eastern military command, told Reuters.
“They raised the flag over some kind of toilet. They attached it to the side of who knows what, hung their rag and said they had captured the city. Well good, let them think they’ve taken it,” Cherevatyi added by telephone.
The Ukrainian armed forces General Staff said in an evening statement 45 enemy attacks had been repelled in total in the last 24 hours, with Bakhmut at the “epicentre of operations” along with the cities of Avdiivka and Maryinka further south.
“The enemy is attempting to take under full control the city of Bakhmut,” it said on Facebook. “Ukrainian forces repelled nearly 20 enemy attacks along the front line.”
John Kirby, a spokesperson for the US National Security Council, told reporters in Washington that Ukraine was still fighting hard for Bakhmut, describing the battles as “quite, quite violent and quite close”.
“Even if the Russians do get it, it isn’t going to change the battlefield dynamics from a strategic perspective,” he said.
Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.
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