MOSCOW, April 3. /TASS/. There is no planned withdrawal of the Ukrainian army from Artyomovsk (Ukrainian name Bakhmut) in sight, the acting head of the DPR Denis Pushilin said on Monday.

"The enemy has not received a corresponding order yet. Accordingly, no escape or planned withdrawal of the Ukrainian regime’s troops from Artyomovsk is observed," he said on the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

Artyomovsk, located in the Kiev-controlled part of the DPR, is an important transport hub, crucial to delivering supplies to the Ukrainian group of troops in Donbass. Fierce battles are going on for the city. As the adviser to the acting head of the DPR, Yan Gagin, said earlier, Russian forces control up to 70% of the city's territory. Also, all paved roads leading there have already been cut or are under the fire control of the Russian forces, which greatly complicates the delivery of supplies to the Ukrainian group. On April 3, the founder of PMC Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that the Russian flag had been hoisted over the building of the Artyomovsk city authorities.

Pushilin previously repeatedly said that there was no evidence Ukrainian troops were going to leave Artyomovsk. Kiev claims that the city’s defenses will be strengthened. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky previously stated that Ukraine’s troops would not surrender Artyomovsk and keep fighting for it as long as they could.