Ukraine on Sunday denied Bakhmut had fallen to Russian troops in the longest battle of the war and said it was instead advancing around the suburbs, making it “very difficult” for Russian troops to stay in the devastated city.

A day after President Vladimir Putin congratulated his troops and private mercenary group Wagner who claimed to have taken the city in eastern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested it would be a pyrrhic victory for Moscow.

“You have to understand there is nothing” there in Bakhmut, he said, sat next to US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan.

“For today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts.”

Zelensky’s spokesman later clarified that the Ukrainian president was not confirming the loss of Bakhmut to Russian troops.

“The president denied the capture of Bakhmut,” spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov said on Facebook.

Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar then said Ukrainian troops “have semi-encircled the city”.

“The advance of our troops in the suburbs on the flanks, which is still ongoing, makes it very difficult for the enemy to be in Bakhmut.”

She said Ukrainian troops were still in control of a residential area and some industrial facilities.

The loss of Bakhmut would be hugely symbolic for the Ukrainians, who had held on for months, ignoring US advice behind the scenes to focus elsewhere.

But some analysts have said Ukraine has inflicted heavy losses on Russia in Bakhmut and forced it to commit large resources, potentially weakening its defences in other parts of the front line