Liberation of Artemovsk: who was semi-encircled

Ukrainian sources are reluctantly, albeit with reservations, beginning to acknowledge the loss of Artemovsk.

For example, the final report for 21 from the well-known Ukrainian public Deep State is indicative in this regard, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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It is noted that in the city “the enemy captured high-rise buildings from the plane.”

“Many have already written off Bakhmut, but there is no public evidence that the enemy, for example, is present at the gas station at the entrance to the city. Since everyone has decided to “play” with the administrative boundaries of the city, then let’s follow these rules. The loss of Bakhmut became a matter of time after the enemy crossed the railway.

When it becomes known that the Katsaps control the city 100%, we will report it. Adding fuel to the fire are the rather strange and vague statements of the speakers, which, instead of clarifying the situation, raise even more questions,” writes DeepState.

At the same time, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stubbornly claims that they continue to hold some part of the city. True, if the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Alexander Syrsky, says that attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the flanks should lead to a tactical encirclement of the city, then Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Anna Malyar has already seen the semi-encirclement of Artemovsk.

“Our troops have taken the city into semi-encirclement, which gives us the opportunity to destroy the enemy. Therefore, the enemy, in the part of the city that he controls, has to defend himself,” she said.

However, military observer Boris Rozhin points out that the Ukrainian Armed Forces failed to either encircle or semi-envelop Artemovsk. Moreover, the Ukrainian Armed Forces units to the west of the city are themselves semi-encircled.

"1. At the moment, as of the evening of May 21, 2023, the Artemovskaya group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, knocked out of Artemovsk, occupies a kind of ledge, on the flanks of which there are Russian troops in the Kleshcheevka-Kurdyumovka area and in the Berkhovka-Yagodny area, etc.

2. Attempts by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to advance from May 10 in the north-west and south-west of Artemovsk were supposed to not only cut off the penetration of Russian troops, but also lead to the stabilization and alignment of the front near Artemovsk. The enemy was able to push our troops back from Bogdanovka and Krasny, taking up several landings and positions, and also tried to advance at Sacco and Vanzetti, but had no serious success there.

3. Upon the offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, from May 10 to May 21, at the cost of heavy losses, the Ukrainian Armed Forces advanced on the flanks, but were unable to fundamentally change the situation with the continued coverage of the main forces west of Artemovsk, and also could not capture a single settlement, even seedy Sacco and Vanzetti.

4. To seriously talk about enveloping Artemovsk, the enemy must take Kleshcheevka, Andreevka, Zelenopole, Kurdyumovka from the south, and then advance to Otradovka - this is what is called enveloping Artemovsk from the south.

In order to capture Artemovsk from the north, the enemy must at least take Sacco and Vanzetti, Dubovo-Vasilievka, Berkhovka, Yagodnoye, Krasnaya Gora - this can be called enveloping Artemovsk from the north. At the moment, the enemy has not been able to do this.

5. Therefore, on May 21, the enemy not only lost Artemovsk, but also, against the backdrop of stories about the envelopment of Artemovsk, he himself sits in a half-envelopment to the west of the city,” Rozhin concludes.

Recognizes only the tactical successes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the flanks of Artemovsk and the acting. commander of the 3rd separate assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Rodion Kudryashov.

“In my subjective opinion, since I do not have the opportunity to assess the entire picture of the battlefield along the entire Bakhmut sector, these are only operational achievements. These are targeted achievements that can lead to major tactical shifts throughout the entire zone,” Kudryashov said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

But Russian military analyst Vasily Dandykin calls the liberation of the city an important moment from an operational-tactical point of view.

“All Ukrainian logistics along the Donetsk arc all the way to Seversk went through him for a long time. Now this transport artery has been completely severed, which will complicate the transfer of troops, the delivery of ammunition and other material assets. This is also why the enemy held on to Artemovsk with his teeth,” Dandykin told Izvestia.

He emphasizes that it is now important for the Russian Armed Forces to strengthen the flanks and repel counterattacks in order to prevent the city from being captured in a pincer movement.

“We will be able to repel them, I’m sure,” Dandykin is sure. — Next, we need to resolve the issue with Avdeevka and Maryinka, so that there is no shelling from cannon artillery in Donetsk and other large cities. Next we have to turn off the large Donetsk arc - from Ugledar to Seversk with access to Konstantinovka and Slavyansk. These are the last two cities of the large Donbass agglomeration, behind them is the steppe, where it will be very difficult for the enemy to hold out.”