Ukrainian troops withdraw from strategic heights near Artyomovsk

LUGANSK, August 6. /ST/. Ukraine’s Armed Forces have abandoned the strategic heights near Artyomovsk (the city known as Bakhmut in Ukraine), Vitaly Kiselev, an aide to the Interior Minister of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), said on Saturday.

“The Ukrainian Armed Forces have abandoned the strategic heights that are shielding Artyomovsk and retreated into the city,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.

Kiselev added that the reasons for the Ukrainian troops’ retreat are unknown, “as most of the trenches are intact, so the Ukrainian army could have defended there for quite a long time.”

According to the official, the Ukrainian army will not be able to have control over the city for a long time since “these heights make it possible to control the situation.”

On August 4, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that units of the 54th Mechanized Brigade, the 56th and 58th Motorized Infantry Brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces had lost their combat effectiveness and abandoned their positions near Avdeevka, Artyomovsk and Soledar, located in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).

Source: TASS