MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/. Additional units of the Ukrainian armed forces will be redeployed to Artyomovsk, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar announced.

"Now the epicenter of hostilities is Bakhmut (this is how Artyomovsk is called in Ukraine - TASS). The situation there is really tense. <...> Right on the spot certain decisions were made. This includes the decision to move in additional units," the Ukrainian newspaper Glavred quoted her as saying on Wednesday.

Malyar clarified that serious fighting continued in Artyomovsk.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's economic adviser, Alexander Rodnyansky, earlier told CNN in an interview that the armed forces could "strategically retreat" from the city of Artyomovsk if necessary.

Artyomovsk is located in the Kiev-controlled part of the Donetsk People’s Republic and is an important transport hub for supplying the Ukrainian group of troops in Donbass. Fierce fighting is taking place for the city. Russian forces have taken control of a number of settlements on the outskirts of Artyomovsk, including Kleshcheevka, Podgorodnoye, Paraskoviyevka, Berkhovka and Yagodnoye.

Situation in Artyomovsk

Retired Lieutenant Colonel Andrey Marochko of the Lugansk People’s Repuvlic’s People's Militia told TASS on Wednesday that about 30 minors had arrived in Artyomovsk to fight as part of the Aidar nationalist battalion. He noted that many of the minors who arrived had previously been members of the nationalist youth movement and had been trained in extremist and terrorist children's camps. In addition, according to Marochko, the Ukrainian military moved an MLRS division near Chasov Yar on the outskirts of Artyomovsk.