Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Russian troops on the capture of the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.

According to Reuters, citing Russian media, an influential man in the Kremlin announced that those who distinguished themselves in the operation to capture Bakhmut would receive honors.

For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed doubts about the development of events in the long-suffering city of Donetsk region.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow announced that the Ukrainian city is now under the control of Russian forces. “As a result of the offensive actions of Wagner units, with the support of artillery and aviation (…), the liberation of Artemovsk has been completed,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, citing the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut with its name. era of the Soviet Union.

As of Saturday afternoon, the head of the Russian mercenary organization Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said his troops had captured the city of Bakhmut, but the Ukrainian Defense Ministry denied the claim.

Prigogine acknowledged that Bakhmut, a city that had a pre-war population of 70,000, had no strategic importance, but had taken on tremendous symbolic importance due to the intensity of the fighting and heavy casualties on both sides.

Source: APE-MPE, Reuters.