LUGANSK, March 1. /TASS/. Some 30 teenagers arrived in Artyomovsk (called Bakhmut in Ukraine) to fight in the ranks of Ukraine’s Neo-Nazi Aidar battalion, Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) people’s militia retired Lieutenant-Colonel Andrey Marochko told TASS on Wednesday.

"A bus with young underage men (about 30 people) was observed to arrive in the Artyomovsk area. It has been established that they arrived to join the Aidar assault battalion to render assistance in combat operations," he said.

Many of the teenagers earlier participated in the Neo-Nazi youth movement and underwent training in children’s camps of extremist and terrorist nature, he added.

Artyomovsk is located on the Kiev-controlled part of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and is a major transportation hub for the Ukrainian army’s supplies in Donbass. Fierce fighting for the city is underway. Acting DPR Head Denis Pushilin said on February 16 that Russian troops had seized all major heights near Artyomovsk.

Military-political expert, adviser to the acting DPR head Yan Gagin told TASS that Russian troops had cut off the Ukrainian battlegroup’s supplies in Artyomovsk and all the roads were under their control.