Events are turning in Bachmut – we know that in the US: big differences in debt limit negotiations – Biden remains calm

Prigozhin announces the capture of Bakhmut

Wagner troops are said to have taken Bachmut on Saturday and drove out the Ukrainian defenders. Alone, without any help from the Russian army. “We fought not only with the armed forces of Ukraine, but also with the Russian bureaucracy, which threw a spanner in the works for us,” Wagner chief mercenary Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video Saturday.

That is the situation in the hotly contested city in eastern Ukraine, if Yevgeny Prigozhin is to be believed. But as we know, he doesn’t always take the truth too seriously. In early April, he first announced the capture of Bakhmut and waved a flag at the town hall.

In retrospect, statements by the mercenary boss turned out not to be (Russian) wishful thinking for the first time. The Ukrainians continued to defend parts of the city and proved to be extremely steadfast and tough opponents.

Putin congratulates the Wagner troops on taking the city

Unlike the Prigozhin announcement at the beginning of April, this time there is also a statement from “official” Russia. And from the highest level: Vladimir Putin congratulated the Wagner mercenaries and Prigozchin on Saturday evening for taking Bachmut. “All outstanding fighters are honored with state awards,” the Russian ruler said.

The Russian Ministry of Defense also confirmed the triumph in the Donbass battle, which has become extremely symbolic. Wagner’s private army completely captured the city with the help of artillery and air support from the Russian armed forces, the Defense Ministry said. Version number 2 in the last 24 hours.

The Ukrainian response

But as relentlessly as they defend the city, the Ukrainians refuse to admit defeat in Bakhmut. Ukrainian Army Group East spokesman Serhiy Cherevatyy denied on radio in Kiev that Bakhmut had been captured.

And Cherevatyj caused a stir with a completely opposite description of the situation: Prigozhin’s troops were actually at the end and wanted to give up: they had to fear being surrounded by the Ukrainian defenders, according to Cherevatyj.

Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maljar also contradicted Prigozhin’s words on Saturday afternoon. The “heavy fighting” in Bakhmut continued. At the same time, she admitted: “The situation is critical.” However, the Ukrainian armed forces defended their positions and still controlled individual industrial and infrastructural objects. She initially did not respond to the Russian government’s declaration of victory.

Maljar had previously said that the Russian army had sent thousands of soldiers to Bakhmut for reinforcements and continued to attack “with heavy casualties disproportionately greater than our losses”.

What could be behind Prigozhin’s announcement?

Yevgeny Prigozhin needs victory in Bakhmut, that much seems clear. Either as a symbolic success, which could strengthen him and his Wagner units in the complex Russian power structure – or simply as justification to withdraw his soldiers from the area and avoid an encirclement by the Ukrainians.

According to a report in the newspaper “Ukrainshka Pravda”, the second scenario is quite realistic. If Serhij Cherevatyj’s Ukrainian account is believed, the encirclement of the Wagner forces is imminent if they are not withdrawn. Cherevatyi therefore scoffs at Prigozhin:

Neither the Russian accounts nor those of the Ukrainians could be independently verified. All that seems clear is that the tension in the battle for Bachmut has reached its peak – and is most likely nearing its end.

With material from the SDA and DPA news agencies.