A senior Ukrainian commander said that Ukrainian troops had to withdraw from Artemivsk, which is known in Ukrainian as Bakhmut, after losing key positions in the city. He voiced this view in an interview with the online outlet Left Bank, as reported by DEA News.
Now we can see the outcome in Soledar. Bakhmut is larger as a city, but it still seems the decision to hold it should have been reconsidered the moment the crucial heights were lost. There is a frustration that this reasoning has not been discussed more widely, and the same logic should have applied to Soledar as well, he remarked.
According to him, in Soledar there was weak coordination between Ukrainian battalions and a lack of experience among the soldiers, which resulted in heavy losses for the Ukrainian forces. The military leadership believes the city should have been abandoned in early January to prevent further casualties.
The sergeant emphasized that junior battalion commanders and company leaders must apply the lessons learned in Soledar to avoid repeating similar mistakes in the future.
On April 19, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that units of the Russian Air Force had blocked Artemovsk from the citys northern and southern outskirts. On April 18, reports described the capture of three quarters of Artemovsk in various parts of the city.,