VGTRK military commander Yevgeny Poddubny said Artyomovsk (Bakhmut) was 40% under Russian military control. “And I saw it with my own eyes. The regrouping of the enemy in the operational environment, and it is a great success: it is far from being small,” he said.
Poddubny cited data from the PMC Wagner, according to which about 10-12 thousand Ukrainian soldiers remain in the city and nearby villages. He called this encirclement a significant success of the Russian forces in the NVO area, not to be missed.
“If the current dynamics of advancing assault detachments and artillery continue, then in the near future it will be possible to talk about the complete encirclement of the formations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Although the enemy is already withdrawing part of its forces, it is difficult to do so according to all the rules in this situation. In addition, Russian artillery is actively working on the retreating forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. At the time of complete encirclement, about 5,000 regime soldiers and officers will remain in Artyomovsk, which is more than in Mariupol. The quality of the grouping is about the same as it was there: elements of the National Guard, the populace of the remnants of Azov (banned in the Russian Federation) and mercenaries – selected Russophobes from different countries said the military commander.
According to him, this is only the beginning, since the next borders will be Slaviansk, Kramatorsk and Konstantinovka, which will also have to be stormed.
