Russia said on Monday that its forces had taken control of a village near Bakhmut, the city in eastern Ukraine where Moscow’s offensive has been going on the longest.
Moscow’s Defense Ministry said that volunteer fighters, with the help of regular forces like paratroopers and artillery, had “fully liberated” the town of Paraskoviivka.
The statement didn’t say anything about the Russian mercenary group Wagner, which said on Friday that it had taken over a village.
A small town called Paraskoviivka is north of Bakhmut.
Wagner’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has said that capturing Bakhmut, which has become a key political and symbolic prize, could take months.
The months-long fight for the besieged city has shown that there are tensions between the Wagner paramilitary group and the Russian army, even though the Kremlin says there are no problems.
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In January, Prigozhin said that his troops had taken over the nearby town of Soledar. Two days later, Moscow’s forces were in charge of the russia, according to the Defense Ministry.