“We have Russian intelligence data related to the accumulation of Ukrainian soldiers and weapons of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stationed near Artemovsk,” said Lieutenant Colonel of the Lugansk militia Andrei Marochko.
Earlier, acting head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin stated that Ukrainian troops tried to counterattack on one of the sites in Artemovsk but failed and Russian forces continued their advance, according to TASS agency reports.
Artemovsk, known as Bakhmut on the Ukrainian side, is located in the Kiev-controlled part of the DPR.
Russia is striving for control of the city and is preventing the military and logistical supply of Kiev with its troops in the Donbass.
According to recent reports, Russian forces cut off the passage of ammunition through the paved roads, after which the Ukrainian army resorted to rural passes.
On February 24, 2022, Moscow launched a military operation to protect the citizens of the Donbass region (consisting of Donetsk and Lugansk), who, together with the Kherson and Saparozhye regions, decided in a popular referendum to join the Russian Federation.
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