Russian paramilitary group Wagner's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Sunday that the group has captured the entire territory as promised.
He also added that they are going to be leaving the conflict zone on May 25.
"Wagner has made no advances. Wagner today captured no territory. We have captured all the territory we promised to capture, right up to the last centimetre," Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio message posted on Telegram messaging app.
"As we stated yesterday. We are handing over our positions to (Russia's) Defence Ministry and on the 25th (of May) we are leaving the conflict zone."
Prigozhin said on Saturday that his forces had taken control of Bakhmut, under attack by Russian forces for more than nine months. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and military chiefs denied this on Sunday.
Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.
