Ukraine still has a foothold inside Bakhmut, says official

According to the deputy defence minister, Ukrainian forces are moving closer to the city that Russia declared victory over.

According to a defence officer in Kyiv, Ukrainian forces are still pushing on Bakhmut's flanks and have a tiny footing inside the eastern city, casting more doubt on Russia's assertions.

After months of ferocious combat, Bakhmut was finally taken by Russian military leaders and the Wagner Group over the weekend.

Hanna Maliar, the deputy minister of defence for Ukraine, however, stated on Monday: "We are still advancing, but the intensity is considerably lessened.

"If we discuss the north, there is a great deal less activity there. When it comes to the south, we are advancing and have finished defending Bakhmut as a city.

After a gruelling 15-month fight, Russia claimed possession of Bakhmut on Saturday. If true, this would be a big victory for Moscow after experiencing defeats on the front lines.

The battle for the city has been the bloodiest and most drawn-out of the whole conflict.

The fighting has been led by mercenary groups, who have been shown in films flying Russian and Wagner flags in the damaged city.

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, praised Wagner and his soldiers for the purported arrest.

Moscow would use the capture of Bakhmut as a springboard to advance farther into the Donbas area and towards the city of Sloviansk.

However, since the declaration, representatives from Russia and Ukraine have provided conflicting status reports over who has taken control of the city or if combat has stopped.

On Telegram on Sunday, Ukrainian General Oleksandr Syrskyi stated that Kyiv's forces were moving closer to a "tactical encirclement" of the city as they continued to push on Russian soldiers in the outskirts.

A "semi-encirclement" may allow Ukraine to "destroy the enemy... the enemy has to defend himself in the part of the city he controls," Maliar said on Sunday, echoing Syrskyi's findings.