51�Թ�

Bakhmut was previously known as Artemovsk, in honour of a Soviet revolutionary, before Ukraine renamed it.

"Wagner will leave Artemovsk from 25 May to 1 June," Mr Prigozhin said in an audio recording on Telegram.

“Today they are tearing the flanks in the Artemovsk direction,” he said, using the Russian name for Bakhmut.

On Monday, the head of Wagner, business executive Yevgeniy Prigozhin, claimed to have flown on a Sukhoi SU-24 fighter jet during a bombing run on Bakhmut, which is known in Russian as Artemovsk.

“Let’s meet in the skies. If you win, we will give you Artemovsk. If not, we will go as far as Dnipro,” Prigozhin said.