The Russian channel celebrates the conquest of Bakhmut, like Berlin in 1945.

Russian television paid much attention to Bakhmut’s capture of the Ukrainian city, including comparisons to the Red Army’s capture of Berlin in 1945, congratulations from President Vladimir Putin, and coverage of the victory.

“The myth that Artemovsk [o nome russo de Bakhmut] this impregnable fortress has been destroyed,” the journalist said Sunday evening on Channel One, Russia’s most popular state broadcaster: “These are historical events,” he described.

Then came a story about a city ravaged by months of fighting in eastern Ukraine, where Russian fighters are shouting “Victory!” and placing two flags, the Russian tricolor and the black flag of Wagner’s private military group, atop a partially destroyed high-rise building.