Ukraines Forces Suffering Serious Losses Near Artemivsk, Soledar - Zelenskyys Office

 Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office, said on Thursday that Ukrainian forces are suffering serious losses in the Artemivsk (Bakhmut) and Soledar areas in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).

"We are suffering serious losses," Arestovich said in an appearance on the YouTube channel of journalist Mark Feigin (recognized as foreign agent media by Russia's Justice Ministry), adding that "the directions of the main strike are the eastern districts of Bakhmut, just to the south of Soledar, and Soledar itself."

Apti Alaudinov, the former aide to Russia's Chechnya region head Ramzan Kadyrov, the commander of the Akhmat regiment, and the deputy commander of the 2nd Army Corps of the Luhansk People's Republic's militia, said earlier this week that fierce battles are taking place near Artemivsk, but Kiev understands that it will have to surrender the city.

He added that the city is being systematically encircled by Russian units. He also said that the Russian military is advancing and recapturing important areas near Soledar city daily.

The city of Artemivsk (the Ukrainian name is Bakhmut) is located in the Kiev-controlled part of the DPR, north of the large city of Horlivka, and is an important transport hub for supplying the Ukrainian troops in Donbas.