james waterhouse. thank you forjoining us. what do you make what the ukrainian president said there?- you make what the ukrainian president said there? well, it s clear that bakhmut, president said there? well, it s clear that bakhmut, this - president said there? well, it s. clear that bakhmut, this eastern city, has once again become a distraction as president zelensky continues to engage in this never ending diplomatic treadmill, he is on an extraordinary overseas trip where he has addressed the arab league summit, spoke of the nations that have previously sat on the fence when it comes to russia s invasion of ukraine, he is now meeting the g7 economies injapan where his priority in his mind is to secure the long term further military and financial help, he does seem to be doing that, not least with america giving the green light for f i6 fighterjets to be provided potentially by other allies, but the questioning this morning has mostly been about this eastern city of ba
been about this eastern city of bakhmut. on whether ukraine was still in control, he said right now bakhmut is in our hearts, effectively, he suggested there is nothing left. many took that as a sign that may be they have lost control, but his office was very keen to clarify that it was more of the destruction of the city not the surrendering of control. we have spoken to military sources in the east who say that ukrainian soldiers control a handful of buildings, really, on the south western flank of the city, it is clear that mercenary fighters are mostly in control with the support of the regular russian army, and as you say the head of the notorious vagner group posed in the city yesterday with the russian flag, they are trying to put a rubber stamp of
armed forces. ukraine is accusing russia of deploying an infamous mercenary group as part of its invasion. independent researchers say vagner mercenaries are guns for hire who do the kremlin s dirty work but provide plausible deniability. as david mackenzie reports, ukraine says the mercenaries have been sent there on a very specific mission. and we have to warn you, some images in his report are graphic. reporter: a russian mercenary takes a selfie video in syria. it is a recruitment-style pitch. allegedly, for the notorious vagner group, a brutal force believed to be linked to the kremlin. in the shadows of russia s invasion of ukraine, a senior ukrainian defense official tells us that wagner contractors were in the country, and had a very specific mission. what is the objective do you think in ukraine right now?