MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. It is premature to talk about a cauldron for Ukrainian troops in Artyomovsk (known as Bakhmut in Ukraine); for now, they are in operational encirclement, and fierce fighting continues, Wagner PMC founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Friday.

"It is too early to speak about a cauldron for Ukrainian forces in Artyomovsk, as they are still in a so-called operational encirclement, when roads are exposed to fire. But there is no cauldron. That is why fierce fighting continues," Prigozhin’s press service quoted him as saying.

Located in the Kiev-controlled part of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Artyomovsk used to be a major transport and logistics hub for Ukrainian troops in Donbass. Fierce fighting for control of the city is underway. On April 18, the adviser to the DPR’s acting head, Yan Gagin, told TASS that nearly 90% of the city was controlled by Russian forces.