As Prigozhin stated, Wagner elements have practically surrounded Artiomovsk (Bakhmut for the Ukrainians), and there is only one way left to get out of the town.
A Ukrainian commander, callsign ‘Magyar’, also reported on Telegram that his aerial reconnaissance unit received the order to evacuate Artiomovsk urgently in the last few hours. The officer noted that he would not comment on the orders given by command and the reasons why his unit was ordered to leave the city at a critical time.
Ruslan Stepanchuk, member of the National Security, Defense and Intelligence Committee of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament), declared on Thursday that the Ukrainian Armed Forces would sooner or later withdraw from Artiomovsk.
In his opinion, the Ukrainian army is currently preparing “the necessary conditions to ensure an organized withdrawal.” The parliamentarian also described the situation in Artiomovsk as “very threatening” for Ukraine.
Fierce battles for the city are taking place. Russian forces took control of several settlements in the suburbs of Artiomovsk in recent days, including Klescheyevka, Podgorodnoye, Paraskóvievka, Berkhovka, and Yagodnoye.
Artiomovsk is located in the part of the Donetsk People’s Republic under the control of Kiev, and is an important transport hub for Ukrainian troops deployed in Donbass.
According to the military-political expert, adviser to the acting head of Donetsk, Yan Gaguin, Russian forces have cut off the supply of the Ukrainian group in Artiomovsk, all roads are under control of Russian forces, thus Ukraine has already lost an important logistics center, thousands of regulars and mercenaries, and a large amount of war matériel.
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