(Reuters) – Wagner’s mercenaries captured the village of Yahidne, north of Bakhmout in eastern Ukraine, on Saturday, the head of the Russian paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said.
“At 7:00 p.m. on February 25, assault units of the private military company Wagner obtained full control of the locality of Yagodnoye (Yahidne) north of Bakhmout,” he said in a short audio message.
The day before, Evguéni Prigojine had claimed the capture of another town, Berkhivka, in the suburbs of Bakhmout, the scene of bloody fighting for months between Russian and Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk region.
The Ukrainian general staff said for its part that the Russian forces had tried in vain to advance towards several villages around Bakhmout, including Berkhivka. He did not mention Yahidne but added that 18 localities in the area had been bombed by Russia, including villages south and west of Bakhmout.
(Reuters report)
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