The Prigozhin-Shoigu battle in Artyomovsk: The Russian offensive against the rebels and the separatists in the DONE Region
The fighting there did not stop until late last year after Russian forces were confronted by Ukrainian counteroffensives in the east and south. Russia captured the salt-mining town of Soledar in January and closed in on the city’s suburbs.
Mercenaries from Wagner spearheaded the Russian offensive. As tensions increased with Russian military leaders who criticized him, Prigozhin tried to use the battle for the city to increase his clout.
The Russian ministry released a statement on the Telegram channel about eight hours after Yevgeny Prigozhin made his claim. Ukrainian authorities at that time said that fighting for Bakhmut was continuing.
Few buildings were intact during the ferocious house-to-house battles. The Ukrainian officials said the fighters moved on the bodies of their own soldiers. Both sides spent a lot of time reloading their guns, firing thousands of rounds a day.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has said that seizing the city would allow Russia to press its offensive farther into the Donetsk region, one of the four Ukrainian provinces that Moscow illegally annexed in September.
When a separatist rebellion engulfed eastern Ukraine in 2014 weeks after Moscow’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, the rebels quickly won control of the city, only to lose it a few months later.
The city, which was named Artyomovsk after a Bolshevik revolutionary when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, also was known for its sparkling wine production in underground caves. It is a popular tourist destination because of the wide tree-lined avenues, lush parks and stately downtown that have become a smoldering wasteland.
The area surrounding Bakhmut was an important industrial center with an old population of 80,000 and many salt and gypsum mines.
While Moscow claims there is a Mission Accomplished moment, it has not completely fallen and will still have the ability to seize the initiative from the outskirts.
It isn’t clear which side has paid a higher price in the battle for Bakhmut. Russia and Ukraine have suffered losses that are believed to be in the thousands.
Russian forces will face a big task to take the remaining parts of the DONE Region that are still under the control of Ukrainians.
The city was under Russian control at about midday on Saturday according to a video posted earlier on Telegram. He spoke with about a half dozen fighters behind him and the buildings were in the background.
Russian state news agencies cited the Kremlin’s press service as saying President Vladimir Putin “congratulates the Wagner assault detachments, as well as all servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces units, who provided them with the necessary support and flank protection, on the completion of the operation to liberate Artyomovsk.”
Speaking alongside U.S. President Joe Biden at the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Zelenskyy said he believed the city had fallen, but added: “You have to understand that there is nothing,” saying of the Russians, “They destroyed everything.”
The leader of the Ukrainian Federation said that the city was in his heart, hours after Russia’s defense ministry reported that the city had been taken by forces of the private army.
The meeting came at a crucial moment — Russia recently claimed victory over the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut where some of the deadliest fighting has taken place and Ukraine officials say they need more weapons in order to take back occupied land. The forces of Ukraine are still fighting.
In recent days, Russian forces clawing their way westward through the city fought through a final neighborhood of high-rise apartment blocks, reaching an expanse of garages, farmhouses and open fields to the west. The Ukrainian military said on Sunday it still holds several buildings in that area.
It also was unclear whether Russian reinforcements deployed toward Bakhmut would rotate in for Wagner troops or bolster Russia’s faltering defenses on the city’s outskirts.
But the city is in ruins, and controlling it would not necessarily help Moscow toward its larger stated goal — conquering the entire eastern region of Donbas — now that Ukrainian troops have worn out Russian forces and broken through their defenses in some areas to the north and south of the city.
The G-7 Summit: Highlights from the Indian Prime Minister, Prime Minister Narendra Zelenskyy, and the world’s richest leaders
Zelenskyy tried to win over Modi. While the Indian prime minister promised he would do whatever he can to end the war, his attitude on the conflict appeared the same.
Not only has Modi refused to condemn the invasion, but he has been buying Russian oil and gas — undermining efforts by Western democracies to hurt Russia’s economy through economic sanctions.
The G-7 was an opportunity for Zelenskyy to reach out to world leaders who have been reluctant to denounce Russia, like India’s prime minister Narendra Modi.
The aircraft was considered to be a game-changer by the Ukrainian defense officials who have been looking for a new plane ever since the Russian invasion began. New assistance comes asUkraine prepares to launch counter-offensives.
The United States gave countries permission to send American-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine after Biden came out in favor of training Ukrainian pilots on them. The president said Zelenskyy assured him that Ukraine would not use the jets to strike targets inside Russia.
The G-7 summit is an annual gathering among the world’s richest and largest democracies — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.S. — to address the most urgent international issues and coordinate on global policy.
In a rare and brief trip, Zelenskyy arrived in Hiroshima, Japan on Saturday to speak to world leaders about the progress in Ukraine and re-energize support from allies.