Putin's Ally Claims Eastern Bakhmut Already Under 'Wagner Group's Control'

The Wagner Group, the Russian paramilitary organization that is currently taking part in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has captured parts of the besieged city of Bakhmut in the eastern Ukrainian province of Donetsk, the mercenary outfit's founder, Russian billionaire Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed.

"Units of the private military company Wagner have taken control of the eastern part of Bakhmut," Prigozhin said in a voice recording that was posted on the Telegram channel of his press service, Reuters reported.

"Everything east of the Bakhmutka River is completely under the Wagner Group's control," the oligarch, a known ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, added. International Business Times could not independently verify the report.

The Bakhmutka River runs across Bakhmut, dividing the city into two parts.

Prigozhin's claim that Russian forces have captured Bakhmut was consistent with available visual evidence, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a United States-based think tank.

Ukrainian authorities have yet to respond to Prigozhin's claims and the ISW's assessment, independent media outlet Meduza reported.

Fighters from the Wagner Group have been leading assaults on Bakhmut ever since the city became Russia's primary target last summer.

The settlement has held out, but the Ukrainian defense of Bakhmut "continues to degrade forces on both sides," the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense said in a Tuesday intelligence briefing.

An unnamed military official with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) told CNN that based on NATO intelligence, Russia was losing five troops for every Ukrainian soldier killed in Bakhmut. But the official said Ukraine was suffering "significant losses" of its own.

Despite these reported losses, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to keep up the city's defense.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters Monday that Bakhmut's true worth was more symbolic than strategic.

"The fall of Bakhmut won't necessarily mean that the Russians have changed the tide of this fight," Austin told reporters Monday while he was visiting Jordan, Al Jazeera reported.

However, Zelensky warned that the fall of the city would provide Russian forces an "open road" to neighboring settlements such as Kramatorsk and Slovyansk.

"This is tactical for us. We understand what Russia wants to achieve there. Russia needs at least some victory - a small victory - even by ruining everything in Bakhmut, just killing every civilian there," Zelensky said, according to a report by CNN.