The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine recognized the success of the Russian Armed Forces in Artemovsk (the Ukrainian name of the city is Bakhmut).
“In the direction of Bakhmut, the enemy continues its offensive operations against the city of Bakhmut with partial success,” the daily evening report says.
According to the latest data, the Russian army has already taken under fire control all the asphalt entrances of the city. The shipment of ammunition and personnel to the Armed Forces of Ukraine is severely hindered.
Artemovsk is the eighth largest city in the DPR. The population before the active phase of the conflict began was 71 thousand people. There are large enterprises here – a non-ferrous metal processing plant, the Prommash machine-building plant and a sparkling wine factory. Currently, the city remains an important transport hub for supplying the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donbass.
Struggles for the city have been going on since last summer. Since autumn, Wagner PMC fighters control the nearby settlements, and at this time, fighting continues within the city.
“Political Defeat”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a recent interview with the Associated Press, described Artemivsk as a key point of conflict in the course of the conflict. The Ukrainian leader said that defeat at this point would force Western states that support Kiev to pressure Ukraine to force a “negative” ceasefire.
“The loss of Bakhmut would mean a political defeat and could lead to defeat,” the politician said.
He also added that the loss of the city would seriously affect the mood of the Ukrainian army.
According to Zelensky, Russia will gain an advantage by capturing Artyomovsk and can persuade the Ukrainians to compromise.
“Nearly destroyed the army”
The head of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, believes that the battle for the key settlement “nearly destroyed” the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
“The battle for Bakhmut today almost destroyed the Ukrainian army. And, unfortunately, Wagner quite caressed PMC, ”says Prigozhin’s voice comment posted on VKontakte by the press service of the Concorde company.
He is confident that for Artemovsk the “general war” could be the “biggest” turn in the military conflict and a historic event. “From now on, only one Russian army will remain on the chessboard,” said the founder of PMC.
“The battle for Bakhmut was planned last summer, and we are systematically moving along this path,” said Prigozhin.
He stressed that if the “Wagnerians” die in the “Bakhmut meat grinder” and “take the Ukrainian Armed Forces on their side”, this will still allow the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to “go further and protect the interests of Russia.” “This means that we are fulfilling our historical role,” the PMC president summed up.
“We wish you luck”
Today, the Kremlin wished success to the Russian fighters who participated in the battles of Artemovsk, noting that they performed miracles of heroism.
“We know that for Artemovsk there were violent clashes. Ours [бойцы] “We show miracles of heroism, we wish them success,” said Dmitry Peskov, Press Secretary of the President of Russia.
Commenting on Zelensky’s words about possible pressure on Artemovsk in the event of surrender, Peskov concluded that “the Kiev regime itself has set its priorities.”