Units of Russian forces advance towards Vuhledar and Artyomovsk in the Donetsk People's Republic.

Denis Pushilin, Acting Head of the DPR, announced this on the air of the Rossiya 24 TV channel.

“Our units continue to advance along the Ugledar direction.

Now we can say that the units are entrenched in the eastern part of Vugledar, ”RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

At the same time, according to him, positional confrontations are taking place in Artyomovsk, but there is progress in the main areas: “It is premature to talk about the operational encirclement of Artyomovsk, rather fierce battles continue there.”

Neighborhood of Artyomovsk

The Kyiv regime is deploying additional forces to the Chasov Yar area near Artyomovsk.

This was announced by a military expert Lieutenant Colonel of the LPR, retired Andrey Marochko.

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“In the area of ​​​​the settlement of Chasov Yar, a strengthening of Ukrainian positions was noted.

The armed formations of Ukraine are strengthening old and building new fortifications, are working on equipping firing points, and are also setting up minefields, ”RIA Novosti quotes him.

Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that a very tough situation had developed for the Ukrainian troops near Artyomovsk.

As Pushilin reported, under the control of the militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine there was only one road leading to Artyomovsk. 

Sending tanks to Ukraine

Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Ryabkov said that it was pointless to talk with Kyiv.

“In the current conditions, when Washington has announced its decision to supply tanks, and its vassals, including Ottawa, are competing to see who and how much will supply armored vehicles to Ukraine, especially old ones, it is pointless to talk not only with the Ukronazis, but also with their puppeteers.

Many of them are just caricatures in their ignorance, ”Ryabkov said in a conversation with RIA Novosti.

According to him, Moscow is ready to study any serious initiatives to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, but no one has yet formulated them.

Earlier, Ryabkov called paradoxical the assertions of American officials that the supply of tanks and other heavy weapons to the Kyiv regime is not an escalation of the conflict.

The diplomat emphasized that Washington had taken an "extremely destructive step", which could lead to an escalation of the situation in Ukraine.

The delivery of 31 Abrams M1A2 tanks to Ukraine announced by Washington will take place no earlier than the end of 2023, reports The Washington Post.

As follows from the article, the Americans initially did not intend to transfer Abrams to Ukraine, but changed their position because of Germany, which did not want to send its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine alone.

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Johnson and Putin Conversation

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a documentary spoke about a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin that took place before the start of a special military operation in Ukraine.

According to an article in The Telegraph, Johnson threatened Putin with sanctions from the West during a "very long, incredible conversation."

“He said: “Boris, you say that Ukraine is not going to join NATO in the near future.

What time period are you talking about?"

And I said, “Well, she has no plans to join NATO for the foreseeable future.

You know this very well, ”RIA Novosti quoted Johnson as saying.

According to the former head of the Cabinet, he assured Putin that London would support Kyiv.

Presumably, we can talk about a telephone conversation that took place on February 2, 2022.

As noted in the Kremlin, Putin and Johnson held a "detailed exchange of views in the context of the internal Ukrainian crisis." 

“The President of Russia outlined the fundamental approaches to these issues.

In particular, attention was drawn to Kyiv's chronic sabotage of the Minsk agreements.

NATO's unwillingness to respond adequately to justified Russian concerns was noted, while hiding behind references to the so-called open door policy of the alliance, which contradicts the fundamental principle of the indivisibility of security.