MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/. Furious fighting is underway in the western part of Artyomovsk (known as Bakhmut in Ukraine), acting head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin said on Tuesday, adding that the divisions of the Ukrainian armed forces cannot retreat being blocked by anti-retreat units.

"The situation is as follows in the areas where they (Ukrainian armed forces - TASS) are still fixed now, meaning in the western part: those divisions have little choice but to march ahead or capitulate. There's no turning back as anti-retreat units work there. <…> Furious fighting is underway there, in the western part," he said in an interview aired by Russia’s TV Channel One.

The Ukrainian divisions have been ordered "not to retreat in any instance and to hold positions with all their might," Pushilin noted, adding that the Russian forces have already crossed certain parts of railways in the city’s west.