Russia loses 100,000 troops in battle for Bakhmut - Biden 

He said this during a press conference at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan.

He said that Russia had lost about 100,000 troops in the fighting in the Bakhmut sector.

“Bakhmut. There is a question whether it is lost or not. But the truth is that more than 100,000 Russians were lost in Bakhmut. It is very difficult to compensate for this. Bakhmut is a devastated city. But they have managed to restrain a lot of Russian troops,” Biden emphasized.

The US president spoke about Bakhmut in the context of Ukraine's expected counteroffensive and the participation of F-16 fighter jets in it. He believes that F-16s would not have helped Ukraine in Bakhmut.

• On May 20, the leader of the Russian Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, released a video claiming the complete occupation of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut by Russian forces. In response, Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Hanna Malyar, stated that intense battles are taking place in Bakhmut and the situation is critical. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops are maintaining their defense in the "Litak" area.

• During the evening briefing on May 20 and the morning briefing on May 21, the General Staff discussed the ongoing battles for the city.

• At midnight on May 21, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the capture of the city.

• On May 21, in the morning, the media reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had lost control of the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. Later, presidential spokesman Serhii Nykyforov claimed a mistake and noted that the president had denied the capture of Bakhmut.

• On the afternoon of May 21, the spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Serhiy Cherevaty, said that the Defense Forces continued to hold positions in the southwestern part of Bakhmut. 

• Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have taken Bakhmut into a semi-circumscribed area, which makes it possible to destroy the Russian forces - the enemy in the controlled part of the city has to defend itself.