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Military operation in Ukraine

Gone forever: Kiev's losses in Artyomovsk estimated at 15,000-20,000 — DPR official

Yan Gagin also refuted earlier reports that Ukrainian units had recaptured several positions near Avdeyevka

MOSCOW, April 6. /TASS/. The number of Ukrainian soldiers who have been killed in Artyomovsk (called Bakhmut in Ukraine) is estimated at 15,000-20,000, Yan Gagin, an advisor to the DPR leader, said.

"In Artyomovsk, <...> from 15,000 to 20,000 Ukrainian troops have already been irretrievably lost," he told the Rossiya-1 TV channel on Thursday.

The official also refuted earlier reports that Ukrainian units had recaptured several positions near Avdeyevka. "There was no [Ukrainian] counterattack in the vicinity of Avdeyevka, nor any instances of the Ukrainian army taking over the populated localities that we had captured earlier. In my opinion, this was simply a bit of fake news," he noted, adding that Russian forces continue to advance and are gradually surrounding the city.

Artyomovsk is located in the part of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) that is temporarily controlled by Kiev and was a major transportation hub for the Ukrainian army’s supplies in Donbass. Fierce fighting for the city is underway. On March 22, Gagin said that the city was almost completely sealed off by Russian forces and all access routes to Artyomovsk were under Russian artillery control. Earlier, he said that Russian forces controlled about 70% of the city. Nevertheless, the Kiev regime repeatedly asserted that Ukrainian troops would continue to defend Artyomovsk for as long as possible and had no plans to leave the city.

On Monday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner private military company, said that a Russian flag had been hoisted on the building of the Artyomovsk city administration on April 2.

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Military operation in Ukraine

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