Russian mercenary boss says video shows his fighters near centre of Ukraine's Bakhmut

FILE PHOTO: People visit PMC Wagner Centre, which is a project implemented by the businessman and founder of the Wagner private military group Yevgeny Prigozhin, during the official opening of the office block in Saint Petersburg, Russia, November 4, 2022. REUTERS/Igor Russak/File Photo

(Reuters) - The founder of Russia's Wagner mercenary force on Thursday published a video showing his fighters in what he said was almost the centre of Bakhmut, the small Ukrainian city Wagner has been fighting to capture for months.

Wagner has spearheaded Russia's assault on Bakhmut, which had a pre-war population of 75,000, and has made steady but incremental progress around the city's outskirts in recent months, endangering Ukraine's supply lines.