MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/. Igor Kimakovsky, an adviser to the interim head of the Donetsk People’s Republic, has said Ukraine’s most experienced units lost up to 70% of their fighters near Artyomovsk, a town known in Ukraine as Bakhmut.

"They (Ukrainian forces - TASS) have already lost up to 70% [of personnel]. They have been pulled back for unit regeneration," he said on Channel One television.

"If they deploy some other troops to Artyomovsk, they will again deploy the territorial defense, meaning they will be sending to the slaughter the units they don’t really care about," Kimakovsky said.

The official praised the professional operations of Russian forces near Artyomovsk.

"All roads are under their fire control, including the road to Chasov Yar," he said.

He expressed confidence that Artyomovsk will fall in near future.

Artyomovsk is located in the Kiev-controlled part of the DPR and is an important transportation hub for supplying Ukrainian troops in Donbass. Fierce fighting has been raging for the town. Denis Pushilin, the interim head of the Donetsk People’s Republic said on February 16 that Russian forces had seized control of all key heights near Artyomovsk.