Putin says battle for Bakhmut is over, thanks Wagner mercenaries and Russian army

FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting of the Presidential Council for Interethnic Relations in Pyatigorsk, Russia May 19, 2023. Tatiana Barybina/Press Service of the Governor of the Stavropol Territory/Sputnik via REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday congratulated the Wagner mercenary force and the Russian army for what he called the "liberation" of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which Russia calls by its Soviet-era name of Artyomovsk.

In a statement published on the Kremlin website, Putin said that the battle - the longest and bloodiest of the 15-month war - had ended in a Russian victory, and that all those who had excelled in it on Moscow's side would be given state awards.