LUGANSK, December 21. /TASS/. Ukrainian forces near Artyomovsk have signaled their desire to retreat, but the command is not allowing them to do so, says Apti Alaudinov, commander of the ‘Akhmat’ special forces unit and deputy commander of the LPR People’s Militia 2nd Army Corps.
"Despite the difficulty in the Artyomovsk direction, the enemy is being eliminated there in huge numbers every day. The enemy has signaled its desire to retreat via all available communications channels, but NATO commanders do not authorize them to. This results in thousands of eliminated and injured enemy fighters," he said on his Telegram channel.
Alaudinov noted that Ukrainian servicemen have been refusing en masse to go to the contact line and engage in combat for several months already.
"We also have video proof of the enemy shooting its own fighters after they refuse to advance on us. This increasingly forces the enemy to involve foreigners and Ukrainian nationalist units as firing squads at the contact line," he said.
He noted that all indicators are good across the entire contact line swath within the responsibility of the 2nd Army Corps. In particular, there is significant progress near Soledar, where a major offensive breakthrough was planned and executed, he said.