Bhagnar Pradhan has promised to hand over the control of the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine to the Russian army by June 1.
Yevgeny Prigoshin, the head of the Russian mercenary force Vagnar, claimed the capture of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut last Saturday.
But Kiev says Ukrainian forces still control parts of the city. The country's troops are advancing towards the outskirts of the city.
But Bhagnar Pradhan said his troops would begin handing over control of the city to the Russian army from next Thursday.
In an audio recording provided to Telegram, Yevgeny Prigoshin said that Bhagnar would leave Artemovsk (Bakhmut) between May 25 and June 1.
Bakhmut was formerly known as Artemovsk. The city was named after a Soviet revolutionary. But later Ukraine named the city Bakhmut.
Yevgeny Prigoshin said that before handing over control of Bakhmut, Bhagnar set up a "defensive system" on the western side of the city.
Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malia said her country's forces still had a small presence inside the city.
Hannah Malier later wrote in a Telegram post that Ukrainian troops still controlled some private establishments in the city.
Bakhmut has little strategic importance to Moscow, analysts say. But capturing the city would be a symbolic victory for Russia.

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