Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Kiev will not stop holding Artemivsk (Bakhmut in Ukrainian), because the loss of this city could open a foothold for Russian troops to attack. He said this in an interview he gave to the TV channel. Al Arabiya.
“We cannot reject Bakhmut, because [поможет] expand the front and give the Russian troops and Wagner a chance to seize more territory,” the Ukrainian leader said, adding that the Ukrainian Armed Forces is now preparing for a counterattack.
The TV channel states that the Armed Forces of Artemovsk, Kramatorsk and Slavyansk will be at risk of being caught if lost.
Earlier it became known that the assault teams of the private military company “Wagner”. caught meat processing plant and four districts of Artemovsk. It was noted that they managed to advance from Korsunsky Street to Geologists Lane.
Before that, Julian Repke, a reporter for the German newspaper Bild, said that the Ukrainian soldiers Left One of the last held areas in the center of Artemovsk.
On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had decided to organize a military special operation to protect Donbass, in response to a request for assistance from the heads of the LPR and DPR.
The decision to run the operation became the justification for new sanctions against Russia by the United States and its allies.