The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said on Wednesday that fighting for control of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut had “virtually destroyed” the Ukrainian army, but also that its forces had suffered “serious losses”, Reuters reported.

“The battle for Bakhmut to date has already practically destroyed the Ukrainian army and, unfortunately, has seriously affected the private military company “Wagner”, said the head of “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin in an audio message on Telegram.

The announcement comes after the region’s Russian-appointed leader said on Tuesday that Moscow’s forces were advancing on the city despite fierce resistance and had almost complete control of a steel plant in the area.

The battle for Bakhmut, a mining town in Donetsk region, has been the flashpoint of the months-long war, with both sides describing the fighting there as “crushing people”.

Denys Pushylin, the Russian-appointed leader in the Moscow-controlled part of Donetsk region, said that most Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from the AZOM steel plant on the west bank of the city’s Bakhmutka River.

“The main thing here was to free the industrial zone from the plant itself. In principle, we can say that it is done now, the guys just finished off the (Ukrainian) fighters there, who remained only in separate groups,” Pusilin said on Russian state television.

His statement is disputed by Ukrainians and Western citizens who claim that the situation in Bakhmut is stabilizing and Russia’s winter offensive is slowing down.

In a report on Tuesday evening, the Ukrainian military command said that Russia continued to attack Bakhmut, but that Ukrainian forces held firm and repelled the attacks.

The spokesman of the Eastern Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Serhiy Cherevaty, separately noted that the situation around Bakhmut remains “dynamic”.

Britain’s Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday morning that while fighting was continuing in Bakhmut, Russian attacks were still at a reduced level compared to recent weeks.

“One of the main achievements of the latest Ukrainian operations was probably the repelling of the Russian fighters of the HVK “Wagner” from route 0506. This secondary rural road became a critically important supply line for the Ukrainian defenders. Previously, “Wagner” was located several hundred meters from this route,” Brianik’s military experts stated.