On Saturday, mercenaries from the Russian private military contractor the Wagner Group claimed victory in the east Ukrainian town of Bakhmut after a gruelling battle that lasted for eight months. For the most part, the pro-Moscow camp has been elated at finally dislodging the stubborn Ukrainian defenders.
Although Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has denied on Sunday that Bakhmut has fallen, Russian businessman and Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed otherwise in a voice memo to his 420,000 Telegram followers.
