Context: Ukraine’s President Vlodymyr Zelensky, who is currently at the G7 summit in Japan, denied claims of the mercenary Wagner Group and Russia that said they have captured the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine
It is located in Ukraine’s Donetsk province, Bakhmut has been a site of fierce fighting between the Russian and Ukrainian forces for over nine months.
- While Ukraine is gearing up for the counteroffensive or an offensive in summer, the Russian forces might use Bakhmut, if they have captured it, as a stepping stone to take hold of two bigger cities in the Donetsk region: Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
- It also mentioned that the control of Bakhmut would help Moscow advance in the nearby town of Chasiv Yar, which is west of the city.