Russian mercenary company Wagner claimed today that it has taken over the town hall building in Makhmud, eastern Ukraine, adding that its occupation means it now “owns” the city “from a legal point of view”.

“From a legal point of view, Bahamut is occupied. The enemy is concentrated in western areas” of the city, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said via Telegram.

In a video accompanying the announcement, Mr. Prigozhin displays a Russian flag with an inscription written in honor of a Russian military blogger, a big supporter of the invasion — of the “special military operation,” according to the Kremlin — in Ukraine, who was killed yesterday Sunday in an explosion in Agia Petersburg.

“The commanders of the units that took the town hall building and the whole center will raise this flag,” he assured.

Bahamut, which had around 70,000 inhabitants before the war broke out, has been the scene of unrelenting hostilities for months.

Due to the length of the battle and the fact that both sides have suffered heavy casualties there, the city has assumed great symbolic value in operations to control the Donbas industrial region.

Russian forces have slowly advanced in recent months in the north and south, cutting off supply routes for Ukrainian forces, then captured its eastern part.

On March 20, Mr. Prigozhin stated that Wagner took 70% of Bahmut.

Kiev characterizes the battle in Bakhmut as necessary to pin down Russian forces along the entire eastern front.

Although analysts and officials consider the city’s strategic value rather limited.

This opinion is also shared by the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

Some analysts argue that if Moscow’s forces capture it, it will open the way for them to move towards two other Ukrainian strongholds, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, continuing the effort to bring under their control all of the Donbass (eastern Ukraine ), which has been a declared goal of the Kremlin since it ordered the invasion of Ukrainian territory in February 2022.