NYT: Kiev authorities are preparing the Ukrainians for the surrender of Artemivsk, against the background of the Russian offensive

MOSCOW, March 6 – RIA Novosti. Observers wrote that despite Volodymyr Zelensky’s statements about Artemivsk, the Ukrainians began to prepare for the surrender of the city. New York Times Matthew Mpouk Bigg, Vivek Shankar and Andrew Kramer.

They admitted that “the ring is getting smaller” around Artemovsk.

Mick Ryan, a military analyst and retired Australian Army Major General, said of their position that “the Russian army is slowly but surely beginning to take up positions in and around Bakhmut.”

The article also cites the opinion of experts from the Institute for War Studies, a US think tank, that “cutting roads with vital supply lines for Ukrainian fighters could force Kiev troops to abandon their positions and retreat.”

Earlier, the founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that the fighters of the group almost completely surrounded Artemovsk. One of the members of the unit explained that all means of replenishment and withdrawal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the city are in the fire destruction zone of the Russian artillery.

On March 2, Sergei Rakhmanin, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, spoke about the fact that the situation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Artemovsk is critical. Militarily, he believes it doesn’t make sense to hold the city at all costs.

Artemovsk is located in the part of the DPR north of Gorlovka, currently controlled by the Kiev authorities. This is an important transport hub for the supply of the Ukrainian group in Donbass. Violent clashes have been taking place there for several months.