He wagner groupthe spearhead of the Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine, has announced the taking of Bakhmutsomething that denies Ukraine while celebrating the expansion of the F-16 coalition, which the United States has joined.

“Today at noon the last redoubt of the Samoliot (Avión) neighborhood was taken in the city of Bakhmut” in the west of the city, declared the head of the Russian paramilitary group, Yevgueni Prigozin, in a video posted on his Telegram account.

Prigozhin, with a Russian flag in his hands, and accompanied by several combatants, has pointed out that “the operation to take Bakhmut, ‘Bajmut’s meat grinder’, lasted 224 days” and has had the objective of wearing down the Army Ukrainian army and “to give the battered Russian Army a chance to recover.”

Ukraine denies it

For his part, Kyiv has immediately denied their forces have left the city: Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar has claimed that “heavy fighting” continues although he admits that “the situation is critical”.

“However, our forces maintain the defense of the Samoliot neighborhood,” he said, noting that the defenders of the city “control some industrial and infrastructure facilities in this area and in the private sector.”

The spokesman for the eastern command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Serhiy Cherevaty, has been more categorical in stating that “this is a lie. Our units fight in Bakhmut“.

In recent days the battle of Bakhmut has become a kind of race on two fronts: while inside the city Wagner’s forces advanced further and further west and gradually took the last quarters, the Ukrainian forces forced a withdrawal from their positions to several regular Russian units that were to hold the flanks of the city.

More fighter support for Ukraine

Meanwhile, Ukraine has welcomed the announcement by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, who has reported at the G7 summit being held in the Japanese city of Hiroshima that Washington will support the joint effort to train Ukrainian pilots in handling aircraft of Fourth generation, including F-16 fighters.

“I welcome the historic decision of the US and the US president to support an international coalition of combat aircraft. This will greatly improve our army in the skies,” Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky tweeted this Friday hours before arriving to Japan.

Biden’s decision is intended to send a “powerful signal” to Russia about the West’s commitment to Ukraine’s “sovereignty, independence and security” as well as its ability to fend off future attacks, a senior US official has said. .

In February, the UK announced that it was developing a new training program for Ukrainian pilots to support its efforts to create a new Ukrainian air force using NATO F-16 fighter jets. This initiative has been supported by France, the Netherlands and Belgium, among other countries.

In recent months, Ukraine has been requesting to be supplied with fighter-bombers to defend against Russia, but Biden has so far been reluctant to respond to this demand.