ROSTOV-ON-DON, January 20. /TASS/. The acting head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, has said that Russian forces are close to encircling Artyomovsk (Bakhmut).

He said hostilities were now taking place inside the city, specifically in the area near the meat processing plant.

"The Wagner PMC are advancing day and night. They are also making progress in the vicinity of Soledar, where a thorough cleanup operation is underway. After the liberation of Kleshcheyevka, new horizons are opening up there [in Artyomovsk] and, I should say, there has been a fundamental improvement in positions. One can say that Artyomovsk is close to being encircled. The Wagner PMC’s units located there are pushing forward to this goal," he said in reply to a question from TASS at the opening ceremony of the first semi-final of the Donetsk People's Republic’s personnel competition Leaders of Revival on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that the assault volunteer units enjoying fire support from the Russian army liberated the village of Kleshcheyevka in the DPR.

Earlier, a military expert from the LPR, Colonel Vitaly Kiselev, said that the Russian forces’ control of the village of Kleshcheyevka, located south of Artyomovsk, was of strategic importance for continuing the offensive towards that city.