The head of the Russian private military company "Wagner" said today that his troops have captured the Ukrainian village of Berkhovka, located not far north of Bakhmut - a key city that Moscow has been trying to capture for months, reported France Press.

The village "is completely under our control. Wagner units control the whole of Berkhovka," Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed in a short communiqué issued by his press office.

The owner of "Wagner" accused the Russian military commanders of treason

AFP was unable to independently verify the claim, which came on the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

For more than half a year, the "Wagner" group and the Russian army have been trying to capture Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine - a city of disputed strategic value, but which has gained great symbolic importance in view of the duration of the fighting and the heavy losses there for both camps.

Russian forces have been trying for weeks to encircle Bakhmut and have succeeded in cutting off a number of roads important for the supply of Ukrainian troops.

If the capture of Berkhovka by "Wagner" is confirmed, it will mean that Russian forces have begun to close the ring around Bakhmut from the north.

Last week, Russian forces already claimed to have captured the village of Paraskovievka at the northern entrance to Bakhmut;

Berkhovka is located southwest of this village.

Wagner