Russia claims victory in Bakhmut, but Ukraine says fight is still on

The Russian military says its mercenary forces have overrun Bakhmut, though the Ukrainian military says it is continuing to defend the eastern city that has hosted some of the war’s fiercest fighting for the past several months. The Kremlin-supported Wagner Group said earlier in the day that it had taken the city. The protracted fighting for the city, which has little strategic value, has slowed Russia’s full-scale invasion and brought its squabbles with allies into public view.

Meanwhile, President Biden is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Japan for the Group of Seven summit on Sunday, according to a readout from a White House press call. Before the announcement was public, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden “looks forward to the opportunity to be able to sit down face to face with President Zelensky.”

From wire services