MOSCOW, February 24. /TASS/. The village of Berkhovka, seven kilometers north of Artyomovsk (Ukrainian name: Bakhmut) in the Donetsk People’s Republic, has been fully taken under the control of Russian forces, the founder of the Wagner private military company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said.

"Berkhovka is fully taken under our control. Wagner PMC units are in full control of Berkhovka," Prigozhin’s press service quoted him as saying on Friday on its Telegram channel.

The village of Berkhovka is located northwest of Artyomovsk, not far from Paraskovyevka, which was taken under control on February 17. Artyomovsk is located in the Kiev-controlled part of the DPR, north of the large city of Gorlovka, and is an important transport hub for supplying Ukrainian forces in Donbass. There is fierce fighting for the city.