The head of the Russian private military “Wagner” group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said late Sunday evening that his forces raised the Russian flag over the administration building of the town of Bakhmut in Ukraine.
“From a legal point of view, Bakhmut has been captured…the enemy is concentrated in the western parts,” Prigozhin said in an audio message published by his press service via Telegram.
And Russian media quoted Prigozhin as saying that the commanders of the units of the Russian forces, who are in charge of managing the city and its entire center, “will hang and raise banners and flags.”
Russian media and social media accounts circulated a video showing Prigozhin raising the Russian flag over the Bakhmut town administration building.
strategic importance
- In April 2014, pro-Russian separatists took control of Bakhmut and declared it part of the “Donetsk People’s Republic”, but Ukrainian forces recaptured it in July of the same year.
- In the summer of 2022, the city became the center of the military operations launched by Russia in Donetsk, and for months it was subjected to numerous storming attempts, which were thwarted by the Ukrainian forces.
- The importance of Bakhmut for Russia has been enhanced following its loss of the city of Izium, south of the northern Kharkiv region, in mid-September, as it has become an almost sole southeastern gateway for the advancement of its forces deep into Donetsk Province, especially towards the main cities under Ukrainian control.
- On the other hand, for the Ukrainians, Bakhmut is an impregnable bulwark to defend the rest of the cities of Donetsk, from which strikes are directed against the positions of the Russian forces in the parts under their control, including the city of Donetsk, the capital of the province.
- In addition to the strategic importance of its geographical location in light of Russia’s war on Ukraine, Bakhmut is an important industrial center, and one of the largest heavy machinery manufacturing centers in Ukraine.
- Bakhmut relies mainly on the extraction of rock salt, and contributes 30 percent of Ukraine’s production of this substance, whose mines are located in Solidar, 10 kilometers northeast of the city.
- Bakhmut has many non-ferrous processing plants and other industrial enterprises, and one of the largest traditional wine producers in Eastern Europe is located here.
- In addition to being an industrial castle, its residents also practice agricultural activities, as fields of grain, sunflowers, and others spread around Bakhmut.