The owner of Russia's Wagner Group military contractor claimed Wednesday that his troops have extended their gains in the Ukrainian stronghold of Bakhmut, but it remained unclear how long the grinding fight that has exacted heavy losses might continue.
The battle for the city the Ukrainians have dubbed “fortress Bakhmut” has become emblematic of the way each side has tried to wear down the other. Russian forces must go through Bakhmut in order to push deeper into the areas in Donetsk province they don't yet control, but Western officials say that capturing the city won't change the course of the war.
Neither Russian nor Ukrainian officials commented on Prigozhin's claim. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank that closely monitors the fighting, said Russian forces were likely in control in the areas cited by Prigozhin following a Ukrainian withdrawal. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday that its seizure would allow Russia to press its offensive farther into the Donetsk region, one of the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed in September.
The Ukrainian military has already strengthened defensive lines west of Bakhmut to block the Russian advance, including in the nearby town of Chasiv Yar that sits on a hill. Farther west are the heavily fortified Ukrainian strongholds of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. As the fighting raged in the east, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with Zelenskyy in the Ukrainian capital early Wednesday. The U.N. said that he would “discuss the continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in all its aspects, as well as other pertinent issues.”
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