‘The locality is in an operational encirclement: that is, all access roads, all transport arteries leading to the city are controlled by our artillery,’ Gaguin reported on Rossiya 1 TV channel on Wednesday.

The expert reminded that the Russian forces already control about 70 percent of the territory of Artiomovsk, and that the Ukrainian manpower in this city numbers about 10 thousand people.

Artiomovsk (known as Bajmut by Ukrainians) is located in the Kiev-controlled part of the Donetsk People’s Republic and is an important transport hub for supplying Ukrainian troops in the Donbas region.

Heavy fighting has been raging around this city for weeks. The acting head of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, repeatedly pointed out that there is no evidence that the Ukrainian group plans to leave this locality.

On the other hand, Kiev claims that it will strengthen the defenses of Artiomovsk. Earlier, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky stated that Ukrainian troops will not surrender the city and will fight for it as long as they can.

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