FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin answers journalists’ questions following a trilateral meeting on Syria with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts in Tehran on July 19, 2022. – On May 20, 2023, Putin congratulated the Wagner mercenary group and the national army on their claimed capture of the east Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. (Photo by Sergei SAVOSTYANOV / SPUTNIK / AFP)
MOSCOW, Russia — Russian President Vladimir Putin late Saturday congratulated the Wagner mercenary group and the national army on their claimed capture of the east Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, according to a Kremlin statement quoted by Russian news agencies.
READ: Russia says its troops have fully captured Ukrainian city of Bakhmut
“Vladimir Putin congratulated the assault units of Wagner as well as all servicemen of units of the Russian armed forces who provided them with the necessary support and flank cover, on the completion of the operation to liberate Artemovsk (the Soviet-era name for Bakhmut),” the TASS news agency quoted the Kremlin statement as saying.
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