Russia's Prigozhin says Russian flag raised over Bakhmut administration

The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said late on Sunday that his forces have raised the Russian flag over the administration building of the town of Bakhmut in Ukraine.

"From a legal point of view, Bakhmut has been taken," Prigozhin said in an audio message posted by his press service on the Telegram messaging app. "The enemy is concentrated in the western parts."

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Russia’s flag has been hoisted over Artyomovsk (called Bakhmut in Ukraine) city hall, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner private military company, said on Monday.

"April 2, 23:00 precisely. Behind me is the building of [Artyomovsk’s] city administration. This Russian flag is for Vladlen Tatarsky, [the Russian military reporter killed in a blast in St. Petersburg on Sunday]. ‘In grateful memory,’ is written on this flag. Technically we have captured Bakhmut," he said as quoted by the Telegram channel of his press service.

Prigozhin noted that the commanders of Russian units that captured the city hall and the entire central district "will carry and place the flags." "The adversary remains in Western blocks," he added.