Photo: Global Look Press
Defense of Artemovsk ( Ukrainian name Bakhmut) is a strategically sound operation, despite the price Ukraine is paying, say analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). , Artemovsk will fall into the operational environment, the material states. The losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are so great that the reserves transferred by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine could not influence the situation.
According to the Resident Telegram channel, citing a source from the office of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy demanded that Valery Zaluzhnyi, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, keep Bakhmut (Artyomovsk) at all costs. For this, special units are deployed on the eastern front. So Zelenskyy demanded the removal of the units that were supposed to attack Kremennaya and Svatovo in order to strengthen the defense of Artemovsk. Many Ukrainian politicians reportedly consider it unacceptable to give up a city that has become a “symbol of resistance” and demand to preserve the city at all costs.
Earlier, White House National Security Adviser John Kirby told a briefing that Russian armed forces had made progress in the Soledar and Artemovsk areas. The official representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Igor Konashenkov, said that on the evening of January 12, Soledar was completely liberated from the armed forces of Ukraine. The liberation of this DLR settlement is important for a successful offensive on the Donetsk direction and will also completely block the supply routes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Artemovsk. According to Konashenkov, the next step will be to block and capture the remaining units of the Ukrainian troops in Artemovsk.
The Russian Ministry of Defense previously announced that the attack units of volunteers with the fire support of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, liberated the settlement of Kleshcheevka in the DLR. This village is of strategic importance for the development of the offensive against Artemovsk. Acting head of DLR Denis Pušilin said on Friday that after the capture of Kleshcheevka, a radical improvement in the positions of Russian troops in Artemovsk is expected. The city may soon be under operational siege.