TEHRAN, February 18 (MNA) – The head of Russia’s mercenary group Wagner on Friday said that his forces have captured Paraskoviivka village, near Bakhmut.“The settlement of Paraskoviivka is completely under the control of Wagner PMC units.

Despite the blockade of ammunition, despite heavy losses and bloody battles, the guys completely occupied the entire territory of Paraskoviivka,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said, quoted by his press service, according to the AFP Paraskoviivka is a hamlet on the northern outskirts of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region that Moscow seeks to fully control.

For several weeks, Russian forces have been posting painstaking incremental gains north of Bakhmut and said they had cut off three out of four Ukrainian supply routes to the city.

But Prigozhin has also said it could take months to capture the embattled city that has turned into a key political and symbolic prize.

Kyiv on Monday conceded a “difficult” situation north of Bakhmut, shortly after Moscow claimed control of the village of Krasna Gora, adjacent to Paraskoviivka.

There was no immediate comment from Russia’s defense ministry on Paraskoviivka’s capture.

MNA/PR