Washington had warned Ukraine that it would not be able to hold Artemovsk and that its forces would "likely be encircled" there by Russian troops, a "leaked" US intelligence document allegedly obtained by the Washington Post showed.
Artemovsk, known in Ukraine by its pre-Soviet name Bakhmut, has been at the center of hostilities in Donbass for months, with the Ukrainian Armed Forces sustaining heavy losses and sacrificing civilian lives there.
According to the "bleak" US assessment marked “top secret”, the Kiev regime was advised to cut its losses and abandon the city. “Steady” advances of Russia’s troops since November “had jeopardized Ukraine’s ability to hold the city”, and Ukrainian forces would probably be “at risk of encirclement, unless they withdraw within the next month,” the purportedly leaked document stated.
However, Kiev authorities did not heed the warnings, the Washington Post report stated.
Another document in the "leaked" Pentagon haul is said to have outlined the steps Ukraine could take against Moscow, such as using advanced munitions, waging information campaigns and utilizing counter-drone technology to “impose future costs” on Russian forces.
Hotly contested Artemovsk is an important transport hub with many crossroads, which previously served as a vital center for supplying pro-Kiev militants in the region. Ukrainian militants have been using civilians in the city as human shields, holding innocent people hostage and deploying heavy equipment in residential areas. Heavy fighting continues in the western parts of the city, as the Russian military advances, according to the head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Denis Pushilin, in conversation with Sputnik on Thursday. Russian troops have cut off or taken under fire control of all the asphalt roads leading to Artemovsk and Russian Armed Forces continue to drive out Ukrainian troops in the western part of Artemovsk, the Russian Defense Ministry said on 20 April.
"The assault detachments continued active operations to destroy the enemy in the Donetsk direction," Russia's Defense Ministry said. Meanwhile, the Airborne Troops and artillery of the Southern Group of Forces support the advancing assault detachments and preventing the enemy's attempts to counterattack on the flanks and transfer reserves, the ministry added.
A package of top secret US Department of Defense documents was purportedly leaked online in recent weeks. The trove of documents was initially released on the Discord platform, which is popular with gamers. Later, the alleged Pentagon files found their way to major social media platforms and eventually were picked by the US mainstream media. The documents supposedly shed light on US interests in various corners of the world, including the Pentagon’s assessment of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and showed that the US was spying not only on its opponents but also on its allies. The veracity of the disclosed data has yet to be proved.
Since the revelations,, the FBI has arrested Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the US Air Force National Guard, for his alleged involvement in leaking the classified documents. A federal court in Boston charged Teixeira with the unauthorized retention, removal and transmission of classified information on 14 April.
Regarding the Pentagon "leak", Moscow has not ruled out the possibility that it was deliberately orchestrated for the purpose of disinformation. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov emphasized that the US is a party to the Ukraine conflict - is, in fact, waging a proxy war against Russia - and might be expected to resort to such practices.