War in Ukraine. Kiev claims to have repulsed an attack near Blahodatne, which Wagner says it controls

The Ukrainian army announced this Sunday, January 29, that it had repelled an attack near the village of Blahodatne in the Donetsk region (Eastern Ukraine), while the private Russian paramilitary group Wagner claimed to have taken control. Kiev troops haverepulse attacks near (…) Blahodatneand thirteen other settlements of the Donetsk region, the General Staff of Ukraine assured in its daily press release.

But the Wagner group had announced a little while ago that its units had taken control of this village. “Wagner PMC units took Blahodatne. Blahodatne is under our control“, said the head of the paramilitary group Yevgeny Prigogine, as quoted by his press service. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has not confirmed at this stage.

Moscow has made the capture of the entire separatist region of Donetsk, which Russian President Vladimir Putin declared an annexation at the end of September, the main goal of the Ukrainian conflict. Kiev recently reported that Russian troops have increased their attacks in the east of the country, particularly against the cities of Vugledar and Bakhmut. Russia captured the city of Soledar after intense fighting in January, its first victory after months of battlefield defeats.

Blahodatne is north of Bakhmut, a city coveted by Moscow for months and the site of some of the heaviest fighting since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. In addition, local governor Pavlo Kirilenko said on Sunday that there were five civilians. During the last day, as a result of the attacks in the Donetsk region, one person was killed, including one person in Bakhmut.

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