Hiroshima: When asked if Bakhmut was still under Kyiv's control on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to confirm the loss of the city to Russia.
He replied, "I think no," before meeting US Vice President Joe Biden in Japan. "As of right now, Bakhmut only exists in our hearts."

If true, it would put an end to the war's bloodiest and longest battle, which lasted for 15 months, in the destroyed eastern Ukrainian city that Russia claimed to have fully captured on Saturday.

It's a tragedy, Zelensky declared. "This place has nothing on it."

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The Wagner Group of mercenaries, whose leader Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed earlier in the day that his troops had finally pushed the Ukrainians back, led the assault on the largely levelled city.

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Prior to now, Kyiv had rejected Prigozhin's assertion.

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