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US tried to persuade Ukraine to withdraw from Artyomovsk — newspaper

The Washington Post emphasizes that these warnings were not heeded by the Ukrainian authorities

WASHINGTON, April 21. /TASS/. The US administration warned the Kiev government that the armed forces of Ukraine won’t be able to hold the city of Artyomovsk (known as Bakhmut in Ukraine) and advised it to withdraw troops from the city, the Washington Post reported, citing leaked secret documents.

One of the documents says that Washington warned Kiev about the potential encirclement by Russian troops in Artyomovsk back in January. The document, marked as ‘top secret,’ says that "steady" Russian advances since November "had jeopardized Ukraine’s ability to hold the city," and Ukrainian forces would probably be "at risk of encirclement, unless they withdraw within the next month."

The newspaper said that all these warnings were ignored by the Kiev government.

Russian forces have taken control of almost 90% of the city of Artyomovsk, "and its advance is inevitable," Yan Gagin, an advisor to the Donetsk People’s Republic’s (DPR) leader, has told TASS.

Russian forces thwarted the Ukrainian army’s attempts to counter-attack assault teams in Artyomovsk and some settlements in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said on Wednesday.

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Ukraine United States

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