KYIV-Ukraine on Monday said it continued to fight for Bakhmut and still controlled a corner of the eastern city, as Russia’s Wagner said it would transfer control of the ruined hotspot to the Russian army by June 1.  Ukraine has denied that Bakhmut has fallen to Russian forces, saying it is hanging on to one area of the city and that battles are ongoing.  Both Wagner and the regular Russian army said over the weekend that Bakhmut has fallen to them. 
“The fighting continues,” Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Ganna Malyar said, a day after President Volodymyr Zelensky said Bakhmut was “not occupied” by Russia. 
Malyar said Kyiv’s troops retained control of the “Airplane” district of Bakhmut. 
“The battle for the dominant heights on the flanks -- north and south of the suburbs -- continues,” she added. 
The head of Russia’s mercenary group Wagner, whose fighters have spearheaded Moscow’s storming of Bakhmut, announced on Saturday that the city had fully fallen to his fighters.  On Monday, he said the mercenaries would leave Bakhmut by June 1 and hand over control to regular Russian troops.