According to the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the group would have taken from the central neighborhood and the administration of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine. That’s where it happened one of the most difficult situations for the Ukrainian army, which has been trying for months to resist the Russian occupation. While Russia wants to take the city to continue its advance from the east, Ukraine was holding out until now to stop that offensive and wear down the enemy in this battle.

Russian soldiers had made only marginal gains in the town, failing to gain control of it. However, the situation would have changed drastically this Sunday. The President of Ukraine, Volodímir Zelenski, explained in his usual nightly message that the situation was being “especially tense” in Bakhmut, with the performance of the pro-Russian group Wagner.

With a video released by the press service, the leader of the Wagner group announced his foray into the city center: “April 2, 11 p.m. sharp. Legally we have taken Bakhmut. The commanders of the units that took over the administration and the central neighborhood will now raise those flags (the Russian and the paramilitary group)”-

The battle is now taking place in the western quarter of the town, which has become the epicenter of fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

From the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces they have recognized that the Russian forces “try to take full control” of Bakhmut. This is a rare reference in official kyiv notes to the possibility of Russia completely conquering this eastern Ukrainian city.

“In the direction of Bakhmut, the enemy does not stop attacking (the city of) Bakhmut, trying to gain full control” of the municipality, read the note from the General Staff, published shortly after 6 am on Monday (4.00 GMT) on their Facebook account.