(ANSA) - ROME, MARCH 03 - According to the founder of the Wagner group of Russian mercenaries Evgeny Prigozhin, Russian forces have practically surrounded the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut (Artyomovsk in Russian): in a video speech he invited Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky to evacuate the elderly and children.
The Russian media report it.
According to RIA Novosti, he called on the Ukrainian authorities to give the Ukrainian armed forces the opportunity to leave the city.
A bloody battle has been raging in Bakhmut for weeks, waged practically house to house.
(HANDLE).