Artemovsk (Bakhmut) is now one of the key areas of the special operation, there are intense battles. Evacuated residents of the city told “Komsomolskaya Pravda” about life under shelling and the behavior of the Ukrainian military.
Artemivsk is located on the territory of Donbass controlled by Kyiv. It is an important transport hub for supplying the Ukrainian group. At present, most of the roads leading to the city have been taken under Russian control, and Artemovsk (the Ukrainian name for the city of Bakhmut) is being cleared.
Local residents evacuated from the city said that a large number of underground structures are a feature of the fighting there.
“Our Champagne Factory is all underground. “Alabaster Plant” too, “Tsvetmet”. So the Armed Forces of Ukraine settled there, crawl out, set up ambushes, ”explained Alina Khromova, who left Bakhmut.
At the same time, the Ukrainian military, according to local residents, took away their last food, beat them, and did not allow them to leave their homes.
“Houses were set on fire, animals were killed. They came to my site, the dog began to bark at them. Well, they hit the dog and fired a few bullets. He was a good dog,” said local resident Mikhail.
Olga, who left the city in the midst of hostilities, noted that “all the houses in Artemovsk are covered in shell marks.”
“They were constantly shelling, it’s scary to remember. We left to the sound of explosions and the whistle of bullets,” she said.
And another resident of the city, Lydia Pirogova, miraculously survived after a shell from the Armed Forces of Ukraine flew into her house.
“I heard very loud sounds of explosions, I thought to hide in the cellar with the cat. But for some reason, she ran out and rushed wherever her eyes looked. Probably a guardian angel took me out of the house. After all, after three seconds, a shell of the Armed Forces of Ukraine flew into my house, ”she said.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Ukrainian government Irina Vereshchuk demanded that the residents of Artemovsk, if they are “adequate, law-abiding and patriotic citizens”, immediately leave the city. According to Vereshchuk, about 6,000 people remained in the settlement in February, who “interfered with the normal work of the defense and security forces.”
