“On May 20, 2023, today, at noon [local time], Bakhmut was taken in its entirety”, announced Prigojin in a video published on the social network Telegram, quoted by the French agency AFP.
Prigojin appears in the images with armed men in front of ruined buildings.
Wagner Group mercenaries have been involved in the battle for Bakhmut, the longest and bloodiest since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 22, 2022.
There has been no reaction so far from Ukraine to Prigojin’s claim.
The information on the course of the war released by the two parties cannot immediately be independently verified.