UPDATE: Russian Defence Ministry confirms that ‘Bakhmut has fallen’

UPDATE: Saturday, May 20, at 11:45pm

A post on the official Telegram channel of the Russian Defence Ministry this evening, Saturday, May 20, confirmed the Wagner PMC chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s earlier claim that the city of Bakhmut was finally under Russian control.

It read: “As a result of offensive actions by the Wagner assault units, supported by artillery and aviation of the Yug Group of Forces, the liberation of #Artyomovsk has been completed”.

—————————————————————

Saturday, May 20, at 3:30pm

According to a post on the official Telegram channel of Yevgeny Prigozhin, his men have taken full control of Bakhmut. The city has been at the centre of ferocious battles for many months.

A message on his channel, accompanied by a video of the mercenary boss with some of his fighters simply said: “We publish E. Prigozhin’s statement about the capture of Bakhmut by the Wagner PMC”.

“The full video of the flag planting, due to the limited Internet capabilities, will be shown from 18:00 to 20:00”, it added.

Wagner forces have been at the forefront of the battle to capture the city located in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Progozhin has also been locked in a running battle with military chiefs in the Kremlin.

He repeatedly accused them of failing to supply his men with sufficient ammunition, even going as far as to accuse them of treason at one point. Recently it seems that he has been given what he asked for and now the city would appear to have fallen to his bunch of fighters.