In mid-April, the Ukrainian military group was almost completely blockaded in the western part of Artyomovsk, while Wagner PMC handed over the northern and southern flanks to the Russian forces to focus on clearing out city blocks.
Russia Today’s (RT) sources estimate that only four to seven battalions of Ukraine’s 93rd Mechanized and 77th Air Mobile Brigades are inside the city, along with three to five battalions of the 125th Territorial Defense Brigade and four or five battalions of the 241st Territorial Defense Brigade.
Including foreign mercenaries, Ukrainian National Guard units, Territorial Defense forces, and military units, the total number of Ukrainian troops in the city is slightly over 6,000. The remaining forces are dispersed in nearby suburbs or have withdrawn to the neighboring town of Chasov Yar for resupply and rearmament.
Wagner PMC is employing semi-interception tactics to enclose and destroy Ukrainian units, significantly increasing their losses and leaving them with an acute shortage of reserves. As the Russian Armed Forces advance on Artyomovsk from the flanks, more and more Ukrainian reserves are being killed on the roads between Chasov Yar and Artyomovsk’s western quarters.
The Ukrainian group in Artyomovsk will soon face a choice to fight until their ammunition is exhausted or attempt a breakthrough to retreat from the city when their supply line is completely cut off.
