According to the official, there is an intense firefight for control over the highway from Chasov Yar to Artiomovsk, as it is the only artery through which Ukraine can supply its troops in that town of strategic importance.

Gaguin added that Russian troops have the road locked down, and Ukrainian supply convoys passing through it have been hit.

He also expressed his confidence that the route would soon come under the control of the Russian army and the Donbass militias.

The acting head of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, said previously that Moscow’s forces were systematically working to cut off the routes of supply to Ukrainian forces in the area.

He also reported that fighting was already taking place on the outskirts of the city, directly in neighborhoods where Ukrainian units were entrenched.

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