“Artyomovsk has become a center for the utilization of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, where they dispose of their manpower every day,” RIA Novosti quotes him.
Gagin noted that the Ukrainian military failed to turn the settlement into a fortress city, while they suffer significant losses in manpower there.
Earlier, retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Lugansk People's Republic Andrei Marochko announced attempts by Ukrainian terrorists to keep the industrial zone of Artyomovsk in the Donbass.
Marochko also spoke about the attempts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to unblock the supply routes of Artyomovsk.
On February 13, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the liberation of the settlement of Krasnaya Gora in the DPR, north of Artyomovsk (Bakhmut).