Ambiguity is the master of the situation in Bakhmut, Moscow claims control and Kiev denies it

On Monday, Kiev slammed what it described as "Russian claims" that it had captured eastern Bakhmut, saying Ukrainian forces had repulsed about 20 attacks along the city's frontline in the past 24 hours.

And taking place in Bakhmut, one of the bloodiest battles in the war, which entered its second year, as there were heavy losses on both sides, and the bombing operations destroyed a large part of the city.

And Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the private military group "Wagner", announced late Sunday evening that his forces had raised the Russian flag on the administrative building of the city, although Ukrainian soldiers were still stationed in some locations in the west of it.

"From an official point of view, we captured Bakhmut," Prigozhin said.

But the Ukrainian military said fighting was still going on around the city's administrative building, as well as in other nearby towns.

A spokesman for Ukraine's eastern military command told Reuters, "Bakhmut are Ukrainian and they have not captured anything, and they are very far from achieving that."

"They raised the flag on toilets. They raised it in an unknown place, hung a piece of cloth and said they had taken the city. Well, let them think they took it," spokesman Serhiy Cherivati said by phone.

For its part, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in an evening statement that it had repulsed 45 Russian attacks in the past 24 hours, and that Bakhmut was the "operational center" along with the cities of Avdiivka and Marinka to the south.

"The enemy is trying to extend its full control over the city of Bakhmut. The Ukrainian forces repelled nearly 20 enemy attacks along the front line," she said in a Facebook post.

In turn, John Kirby, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, said on Monday that Ukraine is still fighting hard for Bakhmut, describing the battles as "very violent and very close."

Kirby added, "Even if the Russians seize it, it will not change the mechanics of the battle from a strategic perspective."