Ukrainian servicemen in the Donetsk region. Archival photoPOKROVSKOE (DPR), Aug 21 Ukrainian troops turned the village of Pokrovskoye near Artemovsk (Bakhmut) into a fortified area, a fighter of the Wagner PMC assault group told reporters on the spot.
"This the house is the first fortification that we took in this village. No one expected that an ordinary house would be used as a fortification. The battle went on for about eight hours, the Ukrainian troops suffered losses, they didn’t want to surrender, but with the help of artillery and the actions of the fighters, we took this fortified area", he said.
considered beneficial for defense, as well as the post office building and other civilian infrastructure in fortified areas with firing points. According to the fighter, at least a hundred well-armed Ukrainian security forces were holding the defense in the village. «There were also samples of foreign weapons, American-made sniper rifles. There were foreign grenade launchers and mortars. Different weapons were used, both Soviet-style and foreign,» he said. .Russia has been conducting a military operation in Ukraine since February 24. Vladimir Putin called its task «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» According to him, the ultimate goal of the operation is the liberation of Donbass and the creation of conditions that guarantee the security of Russia itself. The Russian army, together with the forces of the DPR and LPR, completely occupied the territory of the Luhansk People's Republic and a significant part of Donetsk, including Volnovakha, Mariupol and Svyatogorsk, as well as the entire Kherson region, Azov districts of Zaporozhye and part of Kharkiv.