MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. Ukrainian Special Operations Forces Commander Viktor Khorenko described the situation in Artyomovsk (called Bakhmut in Ukraine) as complex after he visited the troop positions, the press office of the Special Operations Forces Military Command said on Wednesday.

"Indeed, the situation in Bakhmut is complex," the press office quoted the commander as saying on its Facebook (banned in Russia, belongs to the Meta corporation recognized as an extremist organization in Russia).

Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Alexey Danilov said on April 25 that the situation in Artyomovsk was discussed at each meeting of the headquarters of the supreme commander-in-chief held two or three times a week. On that day, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky also held the headquarters’ meeting. As his press office reported, the meeting discussed the situation "in the most complex directions."

Russia’s Wagner private military company founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said overnight to April 3 that a Russian flag had been hoisted over the building of the Artyomovsk city administration. On April 18, Yan Gagin, adviser to the acting head of the Donetsk People’s Republic, told TASS that Russian forces controlled already almost 90% of the territory of Artyomovsk.