Orthodox Christians leave after the Sunday prayer at the Church of All Saints as sounds and vibrations of shelling continue in Bakhmut on February 5, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP)
Moscow: The head of Russia's mercenary group Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin on Monday said he was on a fighter jet that had bombed Bakhmut, the epicentre of fighting in eastern Ukraine.
In a video on social media, Prigozhin appeared inside a plane flying in darkness, wearing a helmet and a pilot mask.
"We are landing, we bombed Bakhmut," the businessman and Kremlin ally said.
He also called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to join a fight in the skies over Bakhmut, saying he will board a Mig-29 fighter jet the next day.
"If you have the will, we will meet in the skies. If you win, you will take Artemovsk (the Russian name for Bakhmut), if not, we will go until the Dnipro (River)," Prigozhin said.
The same day, Ukraine's parliament adopted a resolution denouncing Wagner, whose mercenaries are fighting alongside Russian troops, as a terrorist organisation.
"We are preparing to destroy Wagner as a component of international terrorism," the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, said.
He said the recognition was a "step towards bringing them (Wagner) to justice."
Wagner mercenaries are taking part in Moscow's offensive on Bakhmut, which Russia has been trying to capture for months, with heavy losses on both sides.
Ukraine's defence in the area has been weakened by recent Russian territorial gains, in particular the town of Soledar further north.
Zelensky on Saturday vowed to fight for Bakhmut "as long as we can."
Prigozhin has said "fierce battles are going on for every street".
