Ukraine criticized Russian claims to have conquered Bakhmut’s administrative center, saying Russian soldiers had flown a victory flag over “some type of toilet.”
Little over a year after Russia invaded Ukraine, Finland, which shares a 1,300 km (810-mile) border with Russia, will join NATO on Tuesday.
Bakhmut, a mining city, and logistical hub, were heavily damaged in the struggle for it.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of the Wagner mercenary army leading the siege, stated on Sunday that his forces had put a Russian flag on the city-center administrative building even though the Ukrainian military still controlled some western points.
But, Ukraine’s military denied that and stated battle was occurring around the city council building and other towns.
“Bakhmut is Ukrainian and they have not grabbed anything and are very far from accomplishing that,” eastern military command spokeswoman Serhiy Cherevatyi told Reuters.
“A toilet was flagged. They tied it to something, hung their rag, and said they had taken the city. Let them assume they took it “Telephoned Cherevatyi.
In a nighttime statement, the Ukrainian General Staff stated 45 enemy strikes had been repulsed in the past 24 hours, with Bakhmut at the “epicentre of operations” together with Avdiivka and Maryinka farther south.
Reuters could not corroborate combat accounts.
Russia declares its invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation” against Nazis.
Both sides have murdered tens of thousands of Ukrainian citizens and military. In addition, Russia claims to have taken roughly a quarter of Ukraine, devastated cities, and displaced millions.
The West has armed Kyiv and sanctioned Russia, calling the conflict an unjustified attack on an independent nation.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West of seeking to divide Russia and China and derail Russia’s conference with African nations. He said the EU’s hostility against Moscow has “lost” Russia.
Russia’s parliament speaker claimed. Western leaders had blood on their hands for backing Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and creating a “terrorist state” in Europe’s center.
Vyacheslav Volodin, a Putin loyalist, called the weekend bombing in St. Petersburg that killed popular war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky a “terrorist act” by Kyiv.
Ukraine called the bombing “domestic terrorism.”
NATO will raise its flag at its headquarters outside Brussels to welcome Finland as its 31st member.
Finland sought protection within NATO’s collective defense accord after Moscow invaded Ukraine.
With Finland’s admission, Russia declared it would reinforce its western and northwestern military.
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