MOSCOW, May 2. /TASS/. Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces have advanced some 160 meters in various directions in Artyomovsk (Ukrainian name Bakhmut), the founder of the Wagner private military company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Tuesday.

"Today, on May 2, Wagner PMC units advanced up to 160 meters in various directions in the city of Bakhmut. The enemy controls an area of around 2.7 square kilometers. We have taken 53,000 square meters under control," Prigozhin wrote on Telegram on Tuesday.

Located in the Kiev-controlled part of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Artyomovsk was a major transportation hub for the Ukrainian army’s supplies in Donbass. As adviser to the acting DPR head Yan Gagin told TASS on April 18, Russian forces already controlled almost 90% of Artyomovsk. Acting head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin said on April 24 that Russian forces had advanced in the northwestern and western parts of Artyomovsk, but the situation remains tense there.