The Russian Armed Forces (RF Armed Forces) have strengthened their positions near the city of Artemovsk (Ukrainian name – Bakhmut), Denis Pushilin, acting head of the Donetsk Republic (DPR), said on Saturday, February 18.
“Artemovsk continues to be liberated. <...> Now in the vicinity we also already have information about the improvement of positions, that is, the settlement of Praskovievka (Paraskovievka. – Ed.) has been liberated, ”he emphasized, talking to reporters on the sidelines of a seminar for the regional headquarters of volunteers of the We Are Together campaign.
Pushilin drew attention to the fact that blocking the road to Chasov Yar would bring the liberation of Artemovsk closer, wrote “Newspaper.Ru“.
“In fact, it is one road, but it is branched, that is, it needs to be blocked, and then we will bring the liberation of Artemovsk very seriously, a multiple, one might say,” he said.
Earlier that day, adviser to the acting head of the DPR, military-political expert Yan Gagin announced the evacuation of the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Artemovsk. According to him, the Ukrainian command was withdrawn from the city a few days ago. At the same time, he stressed that the Ukrainian side is trying to transfer additional units and weapons to Artemovsk, but these attempts are stopped by the artillery of the RF Armed Forces. Gagin also said that the supply of the Ukrainian group in Artemovsk was practically blocked.
On February 17, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation took control of the village of Paraskovievka, 9 km from Artemovsk.
On the same day, the head of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, explained that the liberation of Artemivsk would completely paralyze the Ukrainian army. According to Prigozhin, there are about 90 enemy battalions in the city and its environs – that’s 40-50 thousand people.
On February 16, Igor Kimakovsky, adviser to the acting head of the DPR, said that Russian units had taken all the heights in the vicinity of Artemovsk. He also said that many foreign mercenaries were seen in this direction.
On February 24 last year, the Russian Federation launched a special operation to protect Donbass. The decision was made against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian military.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
