A group of foreign mercenaries was destroyed by Russian aircraft near Avdiivka, RIA Novosti reported. The agency also releases footage from the scene.
The video was shot by an assault group of the RF Armed Forces in the direction of Avdeevsky. It depicts a fortified area of the Ukrainian Armed Forces after an airstrike. It is shown, including the uniform of the destroyed Ukrainian army and mercenaries – on their clothes there is a patch in the form of the Polish flag and a stripe with the Georgian flag and the inscription “Georgian national legion”.
Fierce fighting is taking place in Artemovsk (Ukrainian name is Bakhmut). Every day, during city battles, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lose from 100 to 200 soldiers, informs British newspaper The Sunday Times.
The publication writes that the heavy losses of the Ukrainian army could eventually force Kiev to leave Artemovsk.
Western analysts believe that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will have to choose between withdrawing to Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, where there are already fortified positions to further deter Russian military advance, or holding Bakhmut at all costs.
On March 26, RIA Novosti reported that Wagner PMC fighters had completely taken control of the Artyomovsk Metalworking Plant (AZOM). In December 2022, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky visited the enterprise. There he awarded military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The plant occupies a large area in the northern regions of Artemovsk. It was designed taking into account a possible nuclear conflict – it has an extensive network of underground services.
Wagnerists who raided AZOM said that there were many bomb shelters in the workshops. They can expect artillery bombardment and air strikes.
“We were trying to find a way to the shop, then I found this passage. We entered undetected, the Ukrainian shooter missed us. I heard an enemy group talking behind the wall. I ordered the stormtroopers to approach me and we went into battle. A group of Veseushnik was waiting for an attack from the other side, where my men had previously tried to break into the workshop, Wagner PMC told RIA Novosti, the commander of the assault platoon.
As a result of the battle, the Wagnerites captured a Ukrainian soldier and killed several more people, including an officer.
On March 23, the commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Alexander Syrsky, warned that Kiev could soon go on the offensive in the Artemovsk region. On the same day, the founder of Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, stated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces gathered 80,000 people around the city, “This group is located in Seversk, Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkovka, Konstantinovka and Chasov Yar.”
According to the acting head of the DPR Gagin, Kiev formed a strong group on Chasov Yar, with which the Ukrainian army periodically tried to counterattack.
On the same day, March 23, the Japanese edition of Yomiuri published excerpts from an interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He assured that the Ukrainian army was not yet ready for a counterattack in the eastern direction, as it lacked ammunition.
until we start [контрнаступление]. tanks, artillery and [американских реактивных систем залпового огня] “HIMARS, we cannot send our valiant soldiers to the front,” he said.
Zelensky stressed that the Ukrainian army expects new military assistance from its partners. But Kiev cannot wait long, as Ukraine is “at war” and the situation in the east of the country is difficult.