FALL OF BAKHMUT
Zelensky says Bakhmut ‘completely destroyed’ but Ukraine are STILL fighting as Russia claims city after 8-month battle
UKRAINIAN president Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukrainian troops are still fighting as Russia continues to claim it has taken control of Bakhmut.
The bloody eight-month-long battle with Vladimir Putin's forces and the Wagner Group private army has left the bombed blitzed city in ruins.
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Despite appearing to earlier confirm the Russians were now in control the city, Zelensky later said in a press conference at the G7 in Japan that the city is "not occupied".
But he admitted the city was "completely destroyed" - comparing the scenes to the aftermath of the nuclear bombs which were dropped by the US on Hiroshima at the end of World War 2.
Fighting around the eastern city - which was once home to 70,000 people - has been some of the most vicious since the Russians invaded last February.
With vicious trench warfare and brutal hand-to-hand combat, the fighting has been compared to the battles of Verdun and the Somme from World War 1.
Ukraine had been holding strong - but faced constant human waves of Wagner Group fighters and Russian conscripts in what was branded a "meat grinder".
The fog of war has fallen around the smouldering city with Ukraine and Russia trading claims and counterclaims about the situation unfolding on the ground.
Putin's mercenary warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin waved a Russian flag amongst the ruins yesterday - and boasted he had taken control of what's left of Bakhmut.
His claim was met with scepticism but is now being celebrated in Russia, while Ukraine has stated their official position is they still have troops in Bakhmut.
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The situation is difficult, but under control.
Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine's land forces
Zelensky appeared to confirm the fall of the city when he attended the G7, saying there was "nothing left" and appeared to answer "no" when asked if Kyiv had control of Bakhmut.
"Bakhmut is only in our hearts. It is tragedy. There is nothing on this place," he said.
Soon after, his press secretary Serhii Nykyforov denied the city had fallen to the Russians and argued their troops were still fighting.
And then hours later in a full press conference with the world watching - the president clarified Ukraine was holding on.
"Bakhmut is not occupied by Russian Federation as of today. There are no two or three interpretations of those words," he said.
Zelensky went on: "We don't have simple questions any more, as well as we don't have simple answers. Because we have a very complicated neighbour, who is a criminal and terrorist, a complicated enemy.
"We are keeping young, fighting thanks to the courage of our people, our warriors, and thanks to our cleverness.
"We are not throwing people to die."
The Kyiv Independent also claimed that Ukraine’s military had made advances near Bakhmut.
The Third Assault Brigade were reportedly encircling the city and had made advances on the flanks.
Wagner chief Prizozhin directly addressed Zelensky's latest comments that the city had not fallen by insisting that his forces have taken the city “down to the last centimetre”.
“There is not a single [living] Ukrainian in Bakhmut,” the warlord said.
"There are a lot of bodies of Ukrainians."
Putin's lap dog continued: “So Volodymyr Zelensky is either being economical with the truth, or he - just like some of our army leadership - doesn’t quite know what’s happening on the ground.
“The last Ukrainian we saw was trying to escape dressed up as a woman. We shot him down, because we don’t take any more captives."
Bakhmut has been seen a symbol of Ukrainian defiance for months- and its fall would be a blow to Kyiv.
But with more Western weapons on the way, analysts remain confident Ukraine can mount a successful counter offensive in the coming weeks and months.
"Russia will feel when we have a counteroffensive," said Zelensky.
Ukrainian officials have been busy refuting any claims by Russia that the battle is over and argue that their forces are close to encircling the city.
The commander of Ukraine's land forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, who visited the battlefield today said: "the situation is difficult, but under control."
"We continue to advance along the flanks in the suburbs of Bakhmut and are actually close to tactically encircling the city.
"Thanks to this, we will be able to control all multi-storey buildings occupied by the enemy and gradually destroy them.
"This deprives the enemy of control over the approaches to the city and gives us certain tactical advantages."
"The defensive operation continues,"; he added on Telegram.
Wagner warlord Prigozhin trumpeted his apparent victory yesterday as he posted a video with his cronies in the desolate ruins of a city reduced to rubble.
Ukraine initially denied he had seized control and then later admitted the "situation is critical".
Prigozhin looked pleased with himself as he crowed: "We completely took the whole city, from house to house."
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The Wagner Group are a private army often seen as Putin's private mercenary force - but have in recent months appear to have been at odds with Moscow.
Prigozhin - known as "Putin's Chef" for his former job as a catering boss - is believed to have ambitions to one day take over in the Kremlin.
Putin however was also keen to take credit for the victory - praising his troops as Russia celebrated their alleged capture of Bakhmut.
A spokesperson for the despot said that he "congratulates the Wagner assault troops, as well as all the servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces who provided them with the necessary support."
"All those who have distinguished themselves will be presented with state awards," he added.
Russia's alleged seizure of the city is believed to have come at incredible cost - with the US estimating that it left to 80,000 wounded and some 20,000 dead on their side.
Nato believes the Ukrainians held strong with a ratio of five-to-one as they fought back against the invaders.
If Russia has claimed control of Bakhmut, it is only another pyrrhic victory for Putin - who is believed to have lost up to 200,000 soldiers in his 15-month invasion.
The warlord has himself acknowledged in the past that the small city had no strategic significance.
But it took on huge symbolic importance for both sides because of the sheer intensity of the fighting and the scale of losses.
Former British Army intelligence officer, Philip Ingram said: "It depends on what lens you look back at and whether you describe it as fallen or a successful operation".
He told Sky News that Bakhmut "is a relatively small town or village and psychologically we've been focused on it since August last year".
Ingram said there is "very little left" in the city, and claimed that the Russians have captured "99.9% of the geographic boundaries of the city".
It comes as Zelensky announced his plans at the G7 meeting for a July peace formula summit when 500 days of the war in his land will have past.
"That is a symbolic period of time, a good month to convene the Summit of the Peace Formula, the summit of the global majority.
"The summit of all those who uphold honesty and are determined to bring this war to an end. I invite you to join in the common efforts!" he said.
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The Sun's Jerome Starkey has been reporting from a secret underground bunker this week on the battlefield.
He called it a "World War 1-style hellscape of craters, barbed wire and battlefield trenches";.
He described how Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade used tanks and infantry to advance 1,000 yards across farmland south of the city in the last few days as panic spread through Russian lines.
General Syrskyi, said the attack “stalled the entire Russian army”.
The fall of Bakhmut comes as Ukraine is poised to get F-16 fighter jets as the US finally agreed to hand them over - a move that could be key as the brutal 15-month war continues.
Russia's invasion was claimed by Putin to simply be a "special military operation" which would only last two weeks.
Now tens of thousands of Russians - up to 200,000 - are lying dead in the fields across Ukraine.
And millions of Ukrainian civilians have endured untold misery as the cities have been devastated and their homes stolen.
Putin foolishly believed his forces would be welcomed into Ukraine as liberators.
But instead, the initial attack ended in a disaster which saw his forces devastated and thrown back to Russia.
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Kyiv also continues to call for Western arms which they believe they need to defeat the Russians.
The world is awaiting to see what Ukraine will achieve in their upcoming counter-offensive - with hopes it could provide key gains across the frontline.
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