Wagner group boss: Ukrainians have made gains near Bakhmut

Volodymyr Zelensky has praised Ukrainian troops for advances claimed near the devastated city of Bakhmut. On the other hand, Russia says it repelled a large-scale attack. The contrasting claims come at a time as Pope Francis's peace envoy arrived in Kyiv for two days of talks. Remember, in May, Russia said it seized the now-destroyed eastern Ukrainian city, the scene of the longest and one of the bloodiest battles of the war. In the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, a Moscow-installed official said Ukrainian troops were on the offensive. Earlier, Russia said the enemy launched a large-scale offensive in five sectors of the front on Sunday, south of the Donetsk region. The Russian defence ministry stated it defeated new attempts to pierce Russian defences in southern Donetsk. Meanwhile, anti-Kremlin fighters, the Russian volunteer corps, claim to have taken control of a town southern Russia's Belgorod region.