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THE ESSENTIALS

  • The Russian paramilitary group Wagner on Monday claimed responsibility for taking over Bakhmut City Hall, saying the conquest meant it now controlled the city "in the legal sense." Ukraine, for its part, says it still holds this locality in the east of the country where fierce fighting has been raging for months.
  • In his address Sunday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged that the situation in Bakhmut was difficult for his troops. The situation in the region "is still very tense," Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar said before Wagner's announcement.
  • This weekend, Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the "bankruptcy" of the United Nations, where Russia took Saturday the presidency of the Security Council for the month of April. The Ukrainian head of state called for a "reform of global institutions, including the UN Security Council".

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06:50: Ukraine says it is holding on to Bakhmut

Kiev does not see things in the same way as Wagner. "The enemy did not stop his assault on Bakhmut. However, the Ukrainian defenders are courageously holding the city by repelling numerous enemy attacks," the Ukrainian General Staff said on its Facebook page on Sunday evening. "Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Maryinka remain at the center of hostilities," he added in his situation update at dawn on Monday.

06:40: Wagner claims the seizure of the town hall of Bakhmout

On Monday, Wagner claims to have taken the town hall of Bakhmut. "In the legal sense, Bakhmut was captured. The enemy is concentrated in the western areas," the head of the Russian paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Telegram.

A video accompanying his message shows him waving a Russian flag with an inscription in honor of Vladlen Tatarskii, a Russian military blogger and staunch supporter of the offensive in Ukraine killed Sunday by a bomb explosion in St. Petersburg. "The commanders of the units that took over the town hall and the entire center will go and raise this flag," Prigozhin said. "This is the private military company Wagner, here are the guys who took Bakhmut. From a legal point of view, it is ours," he said.

06h30 : Welcome to this new Live

Hello everyone. As every day, the editorial staff of 20 Minutes is mobilized to give you the latest information on the conflict. On the ground, the situation is becoming increasingly difficult in Bakhmut, by the admission of the Ukrainian leadership. The Russian paramilitary group Wagner claimed responsibility for taking the town hall on Monday, saying the conquest meant it now controlled the city "in the legal sense". Ukraine assures, however, that it still holds this locality in the east of the country.

A city of some 70,000 inhabitants before the conflict, Bakhmout has been the scene of particularly violent fighting for months. Due to the length of the battle and the heavy losses suffered by both sides, the city became the symbol of the struggle between Russians and Ukrainians for control of the industrial region of Donbass.

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