LUGANSK, March 14. /TASS/. Kiev needs up to 50,000 troops to launch an offensive on the city of Artyomovsk (called Bakhmut in Ukraine) from the direction of Chasov Yar, Andrey Marochko, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Lugansk People’s Republic’s (LPR) People’s Militia, told TASS on Tuesday.
According to him, there are many dangerous localities in the vicinity of Artyomovsk where the enemy could really attempt to break through, but Russian forces are determined to prevent such attacks.
"The Ukrainian armed forces are unlikely to launch a full-fledged offensive on our flanks and on Artyomovsk from Chasov Yar in the next two weeks because, first of all, a major offensive requires that the enemy amass its forces into a so-called knockout punch. Second of all, the weather conditions also play a critical role," Marochko pointed out. "The risk of an offensive rises as weather conditions improve with warmer temperatures and no rain," he added.
Artyomovsk, located in the Kiev-controlled part of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), is an important transport hub in terms of Ukrainian military supplies. Heavy fighting is raging in the area. According to the latest reports, all paved roads to the city have either been cut off or have come under fire control by Russian artillery, while the spring mud season is seriously impeding delivery by road of ammunition and reserves to the entrenched Ukrainian forces. The founder of the Wagner Private Military Company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on March 11 that Russian forces were about 1.2 kilometers from the city’s administrative center.