STOCKHOLM, March 8. /TASS/. The North Atlantic Alliance doesn’t rule out Russia could soon seize control of the town of Artyomovsk, known in Ukraine as Bakhmut, in the Donetsk People’s Republic, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday.

"We cannot rule out that Bakhmut may eventually fall in the coming days," Stoltenberg told reporters in Stockholm on the sidelines of a meeting of EU defense ministers.

He said that wouldn’t necessarily be a turning point in the conflict but highlights the need to provide urgent assistance, including ammunition, to Ukraine

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner private military company, said earlier on Wednesday that the company’s units took control of the town’s eastern parts.

Artyomovsk is located in the Kiev-controlled part of the DPR and is an important transportation hub for supplying Ukrainian troops in Donbass. Fierce fighting has been raging for the town. Denis Pushilin, the interim head of the Donetsk People’s Republic said on February 16 that Russian forces had seized control of all key heights near Artyomovsk.