Fighting continues to be fierce in Bakhmut between Ukrainian and Russian forces. This is an area that is a primary target of the Russians, however, until today they have not managed to understand it.

The Ukrainian military said today that its forces had seriously damaged – but not destroyed – the Russian 72nd Autonomous Motorized Brigade near Bakhmut, stressing that the town in eastern Ukraine remains Moscow’s main target.

Serhii Tserevaty, a spokesman for Ukrainian troops in eastern Ukraine, said that the situation remains “difficult” in Bahamut, noting, however, that Moscow is increasingly forced to use regular army forces due to the high number of casualties in the ranks of the Wagner-company paramilitary organization. Its head, Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose group of mercenaries is fighting in the city, said yesterday that the brigade had abandoned its positions.

“Unfortunately we haven’t destroyed the whole (Russian) brigade yet, two companies have been badly damaged there.”Tserevati said in televised remarks.

“The situation (in Bakhmut) remains difficult because for the enemy, despite the white noise that Prigozhin is trying to create, Bakhmut is (still) the main attack orientation, the main coveted target“, he added.

Ukraine’s General Staff, which does not usually reveal such details in its regular updates on the state of the war, did not give a specific description of the fighting in the area, other than that Russia “conducted an unsuccessful attack on the city of Bakhmut.”

Prigozhin, who repeatedly accuses the Russian regular armed forces of not adequately supporting his paramilitary organization – something he did today – said on Tuesday that the Russian brigade had abandoned its positions. “Our army is put to flight (…) I lost about 500 men”, Prigozhin said.

A statement issued overnight by the 3rd Ukrainian Autonomous Assault Brigade noted: “It’s official. Prigozhin’s report of the flight of the Russian 72nd Autonomous Motorized Brigade from near Bakhmut and the “500 corpses” of Russians left behind is true.”

Earlier today the Ukrainian military unit, formed last year by the nationalist “Azov Order” reposted a video of one of the founders of the Azov Order, Andriy Biletsky, who said his forces had “defeated” the Russian brigade.

At the same time, however, Prigozhin once again turns things around by saying today that the 72nd Russian autonomous motorized brigade has not left the Bakhmut region, allowing the Ukrainians to occupy territories.

However, Moscow did not comment on the reports of either the Ukrainian army or Prigozhin. The Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, and Reuters was unable to independently confirm the situation in the region.