Russian mercenary boss says he wants Ukraine's Bakhmut for its 'underground cities'

FILE PHOTO: Plumes of smoke rise from a Russian strike during a 36-hour ceasefire over Orthodox Christmas declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, from the frontline Donbas city of Bakhmut, Ukraine, January 7, 2023. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - The founder of Russia's most high-profile mercenary group said on Saturday he wanted his forces and the regular Russian army to capture the small city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine because it possessed "underground cities" that can hold troops and tanks.

Russia's grinding more than five months-long push to try to take Bakhmut has puzzled some Western military analysts who have said that heavy losses incurred on the Russian side and the fact that Ukraine has built defensive lines to fall back to nearby mean any Russian victory there, if it happens, would be pyrrhic.