Kiev Sacrifices Lives in Attempt to Hold Artemovsk and Justify US Support

Artemovsk, known in Ukraine by its pre-Soviet name Bakhmut, has been the center of hostilities in Donbass for months. The city is an important transport hub with many crossroads, which previously served as a vital center for supplying pro-Kiev militants in the region.

However, many Ukrainian strategists have started to think that it is virtually impossible to hold Artemovsk and that it is probably not worth the effort from the military standpoint.

German media recently reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny have "fundamentally different views" on the matter.

While the seasoned general believes it is better to abandon Artemovsk for good, the Ukrainian president has other ideas and commands him to hold the town - no matter the costs. As political analysts have previously told Sputnik, the reason behind this stubbornness may be the necessity to prove to Western countries and especially the US that their military assistance is not in vain.

For the sake of illusive foreign policy prestige, Kiev is happy with the fact that Ukrainian militants are using civilians as human shields, holding innocent people hostage. Particularly, in Artemovsk Kiev's Armed Forces deploy heavy equipment in residential areas and even intentionally open friendly fire to defame Russia.

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The devastation of Soledar - the settlement in the vicinity of Aretmovsk - inflicted by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

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Amnesty International released a report last August alleging that Ukrainian forces were violating military law by placing weapons in schools and hospitals in cities

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Human rights groups reported cases in which Ukrainian troops launched strikes from residential areas and deployed weapons at civil infrastructure facilities.

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Ukrainian militants never asked or assisted civilians to evacuate nearby buildings.

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These results in deaths of innocents, de facto taken hostage by Kiev regime.

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Ukrainian militants are using the scorched earth strategy.

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Scorched earth is known since the dawn of warfare. It means the destruction of any infrastructure (for instance, bridges) that may be used by one's opponent.

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Civilian buildings also serve their cause. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ukrainian neo-Nazi units used heavy Grad artillery to strike residential areas and a school

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In some instances, Ukrainian militants even used munitions filled with phosphorus.

Above: A Wagner fighter holds a Ukrainian shell fragment in DPR.

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The use of such arms is banned under the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons of 1980.

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Ukrainian militants are aided by foreign mercenaries. On this photo you can see a chevron of the armed forces of Austria.

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But these tactics are clearly not working since Ukrainian militants are forced to retreat, leaving shells behind.

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The liberation of Artemovsk is only a matter of time.

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The Wagner private military group has reportedly already surrounded Artemovsk.

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