MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. The founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that the crucial crossroads of Artyomovsk (called Bakhmut in Ukraine) has not yet been taken under the Russian forces’ control, but the Russian units are already close to it.

"This crossroads has not yet been taken by us. We are close to it," he said, commenting on the information that the Russian forces have almost taken control of Artyomovsk, reaching the city’s crucial crossroads.

According to the Telegram channel of Prigozhin’s press service, the businessman also said that even if Russian forces took control of the crossroads, "there would be ‘ticks’ for the Ukrainian forces, because roads remain in the west, in the Ivanovsky area." "They are bad, they are difficult, we shell them every day, but the enemy manages to throw in reserves," Prigozhin said.

Artyomovsk, located in the Kiev-controlled part of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), has been a key logistics hub for supplying the Ukrainian military. Yan Gagin, advisor to Acting DPR Head Denis Pushilin, told TASS on April 18 that Russian forces had taken control of almost 90% of the city. Pushilin, in turn, said that while Russian troops have advanced in the northwestern and western parts of the city, the situation in Artyomovsk remains tense.