Wagner group claims to have taken control of the eastern city of Bakhmut

BY A STAFF REPORTER: The head of Russia's Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigogyn, said on Friday that his fighters had taken full control of the northwestern suburb of the strategic city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. A Ukrainian military official said on Thursday that the situation near Bakht remained "the most difficult" as Russian forces tried to encircle the city.