MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/. Russian forces have taken control of the village of Zaliznyanskoye and are expanding the encirclement of Artyomovsk, the founder of the PMC Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has said.
"Assault units are expanding the encirclement of Bakhmut (Ukrainian name of Artyomovsk - TASS). This morning, the village of Zaliznyanskoye was taken by the PMC Wagner’s assault units," Prigozhin was quoted as saying on the Telegram channel of his press service.
Artyomovsk, located in the Kiev-controlled part of the DPR, is an important transport hub for supplying the Ukrainian group of troops in the Donbass. Fierce battles are going on for the city. According to the latest reports, Russian forces have cut off or taken control of all paved roads to the city and keep them under fire. On March 11, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of PMC Wagner, said that Russian forces were 1.2 kilometers from the center of Artyomovsk.