Ukraine war: Wagner claims to have almost reached centre of Bakhmut

The founder of Russia’s Wagner mercenary force has claimed to have nearly reached the centre of Bakhmut. In a post on Telegram, the press service of Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner’s founder, cited him as saying: “The lads are mucking about, shooting home video. They brought this from Bakhmut this morning, practically the centre of the city.“ In the video, uniformed men are shown lifting a Wagner banner atop a semi-ruined multi-storey building. One of the men is shown dancing and holding a guitar, a reference to Wagner’s informal nickname of “the musicians“. Read your updates here: Subscribe to The Telegraph with our special offer: just £1 for 3 months. Start your free trial now: Get the latest headlines: and are websites of The Telegraph, the UK’s best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.