DONETSK, December 7. /TASS/. The liberation of Mayorsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has created the conditions for an advance towards Dzerzhinsk and the encirclement of Artyomovsk, Acting DPR Head Denis Pushilin said in an interview with TASS.

"The liberation of Mayorsk has set the stage for the advance of our troops towards Dzerzhinsk, which is an important city in terms of the operational encirclement of Artyomovsk. The Wagner private military company’s units are active in the Artyomovsk area. Some success has been achieved as Pershe Travnya and Kurdyumovka have been liberated recently and a mop-up operation is underway," he pointed out.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Tuesday that the Russian Armed Forces had recently taken control of Mayorsk, Pavlovka, Opytnoye, Andreyevka, Belogorovka Yuzhnaya and Kurdyumovka.