“This is an important success at this stage of our operation, our soldiers are liberating town by town in the vicinity of Artiomovsk,” the official said.

In turn, the political-military expert and adviser to the acting chief, Yan Gagin, told TASS agency that Russian forces had cut off the Ukrainian group’s supply of personnel and support to the city.

“All the roads are under control, we are going to close the ring in our offensive. Ukraine lost an important logistics hub, thousands of military and mercenaries, and a large amount of military equipment,” Gagin added.

Artiomovsk is located in People’s Republic of Donetsk, and is considered a transportation hub used to supply the Ukrainian troops in Donbass.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the suburbs of Artiomovsk, and several settlements around it, such as Klescheevka, Podgorodnoye, Paraskovievka, Berkhovka and Yagodnoe are under control.

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