Moscow's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that Berkhivka, a suburb of the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut that the head of the Wagner militia had accused Russian troops of partly relinquishing, was entirely under Russian control.
"An attack by fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was successfully repelled by Russian units," the ministry said on Telegram.
"A report by individual sources about the alleged abandonment of Berkhivka by Russian troops does not correspond to reality."