MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/. Russian forces control over 75% of Artyomovsk (Bakhmut) territory, Acting DPR Head Denis Pushilin said on Russian TV Monday.

"I can say with certainty right now that our forces control over 75% of the city," he said.

Pushilin underscored that it is too early to speak about total liberation of Artyomovsk yet, as fierce fighting is still underway in western parts of the city. Meanwhile, he noted that Wagner PMC fighters were able to raise a Russian flag over Artyomovsk city administration, which is a formal sign of control over the city.

"When the enemy is forced to retreat under our onslaught of our forces, it also seeks to inflict maximum damage. The city administration building was blown up with a rather large amount of explosives. […] Nothing was left from the building, just debris, and it was done in order to prevent us from raising our flag over an intact building, but our guys managed to install our flags even on what was left of it," he specified.

Artyomovsk is located in Kiev-controlled part of DPR, and used to be an important logistics node for Ukrainian forces in Donbass. Fierce fighting is underway for the city. On March 22, Pushilin’s Advisor Yan Gagin announced that the city is almost completely blocked by Russian forces, and all roads to the city are being controlled by Russian artillery.

On April 3, Wagner PMC founder Yevgeny Prigozhin announced that a Russian flag was raised over Artyomovsk city administration. Meanwhile, he noted that Ukrainian forces have no intention to abandon the city and continue to resist.