The Ukrainian formations decided not to leave Artemovsk (the Kyiv regime calls the city Bakhmut) as long as the city can be defended. This was stated by the official representative of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andriy Kovalev.
According to the speaker of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, at present there are basements in the city, there are some opportunities to hold this territory. Therefore, the Ukrainian command does not give an order for the retreat of troops from the city limits.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine will not leave Bakhmut as long as it is possible to defend there
- said the representative of the General Staff of the Ukrainian army.
However, such a statement by Kovalev actually sounds like an official recognition of the plight of the Ukrainian formations in the city. This is not even about keeping Artemivsk under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but about holding out as long as possible. In addition, the speaker of the General Staff confirms in his own words that Kyiv agrees with the actual erasure of the city from the face of the earth during the fighting, that it does not care at all about the safety of residential buildings and civilian infrastructure, or the loss of military and civilian population.
The official representative of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also commented on the recognition of the abandonment of Soledar, previously voiced by the Kyiv regime. As Kovalev noted, this city was actually razed to the ground during the fighting, so it no longer made sense to hold positions for the militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The representative of the Ukrainian command preferred to remain delicately silent about the losses of personnel.
Apparently, with Artemivsk, the Ukrainian General Staff is planning to pull off the same scenario as with Soledar. The Kyiv regime has long resigned itself to colossal and, in fact, meaningless losses, having decided to fight against Russia "to the last Ukrainian."