DONETSK, March 27. /TASS/. Over 2,000 people have been evacuated from Artyomovsk (Ukrainian name - Bakhmut) and its suburbs to the city of Shakhtersk, Alexander Shatov, mayor of Shakhtersk, told TASS on Monday.

"More than 2,000 people have already been evacuated here from Artyomovsk and its suburbs," the mayor said. He specified that 200 to 240 people are continuously being housed at temporary accommodation centers from where they are then sent "to temporary accommodation centers in other cities in the rear areas of the republic."

Shatov specified that the evacuation from Artyomovsk is continuing, with 30 to 40 refugees arriving in the city every day.

Artyomovsk is located in the Kiev-controlled part of the Donetsk People’s Republic. Fierce fighting for the city continues. Last week, Yan Gagin, adviser to the acting head of the DPR, said that the city was almost completely blockaded by Russian forces, with Russian artillery controlling all access roads to it. According to him, Russian forces have liberated about 70% of Artyomovsk.