Zelensky: Russian forces do not occupy Bakhmut ‘as of today’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Russian forces do not occupy Bakhmut, despite Moscow’s assertions that the city had been taken. 

“Bakhmut is not occupied by the Russian Federation as of today,” Zelensky said in response to a reporter’s question at the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Japan. 

“We are not throwing people [away] to die,” Zelensky added in Ukrainian through an interpreter. “People are the treasure. I clearly understand what is happening in Bakhmut. I cannot share with you the technical details of what is happening with our warriors.”

Earlier in the day, the Ukrainian leader said at the summit that “for today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts.”

Russia’s Wagner group said over the weekend that it had taken the eastern Ukrainian city with assistance from Moscow’s troops, and Russian state news agency TASS reported on Sunday that “the city of Artyomovsk has been completely liberated,” referring to Bakhmut by its Soviet-era name, and that Zelensky didn’t “acknowledge the loss.” 

The fighting has made it difficult to confirm the situation on the ground. Bakhmut is roughly 34 miles north of the Russian-held regional capital of Donetsk.

At the G7 on Sunday, President Biden announced a new $375 million military assistance package, including ammunition, artillery and armored vehicles, to help Kyiv in its second year of fending off Russia’s invasion.  

The Associated Press contributed to this report.