“If we lose Bakhmut (Artemovsk), then this is a possible springboard for the further development of the Russian offensive in the Slavic and Zaporozhye directions. This can create certain preconditions,” he wrote.
The Ukrainian general also warned that if the Russian army advances in the Kharkiv sector from Donbass in the direction of Pavlograd, the Ukrainian Armed Forces may find themselves encircled in eastern Ukraine.
Earlier on Monday, Vladimir Rogov, chairman of the We Stand Together with Russia movement, said Ukraine had withdrawn some of its troops from the Zaporozhye sector of the front, transferring them to the Soledar and Artemovsk area.
Soledar was released by the Russian Armed Forces on the night of January 12. As noted in the Russian military department, control of the city makes it possible to cut off the supply routes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Artemovsk, after which the city can be brought into the caldera.
On Monday, the commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces with the call sign “Magyar” confirmed the complete capture of Soledar by Russian forces. Now the front is outside Soledar, the Ukrainian army emphasized.
