In Artemovsk (Ukrainian name - Bakhmut), a key fortification of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) fell. This was reported by the correspondent of the German newspaper Bild Julian Repke (Julian Ropcke).

According to him, Russian troops entered the northern industrial quarter, and fighters from the private military company (PMC) Wagner occupied the Vostokmash plant. It was there that in December last year, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky honored the Ukrainian troops defending the city, the journalist recalled. “Here they wanted to build a “fortress” similar to the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, and for several months they put up fierce resistance,” Repke said.

Earlier, the head of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that in the battles for Artemovsk, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost up to 11 thousand people per month.