Russia Claims Control Of Bakhmut

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia claims it has won control of Ukraine’s eastern city of Bakhmut after a grinding nine-month conflict in which tens of thousands of fighters have died. But top Ukrainian military leaders say the battle is not over. Ukrainian officials acknowledge they now control only a small part of Bakhmut but say their fighters’ presence has played a key role in their strategy of exhausting the Russian military. And they say their current positions in surrounding areas will let them strike back inside Bakhmut while Ukrainian forces are making significant advances just outside the 400-year-old city, chipping away at Russia’s northern and southern flanks with the aim of encircling Russian fighters inside.