Ukrainian President denies Russia captured Bakhmut

Russian President Vladimir Putin claims the battle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is now over, congratulating his soldiers and mercenary group Wagner who has fought there on his behalf. However, at the G7 summit in Japan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted his soldiers were still fighting. “224 days. That’s how long the operation to take Bakhmut lasted,” Head of Wagner Russian Mercenary Group Yevgeny Prigozhin said. The city of Bakhmut has seen the fiercest urban combat since World War II.