The advisor to the acting head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Igor Kimakovsky, confirmed on Thursday that Russian troops have entered and surrounded the city of Vuhledar in the Donetsk People's Republic.

"They entered and gained ground along the outskirts [of Vuhledar], thereby blocking the enemy's forces. Our artillery is attacking the enemy, who is trying to counterattack," he said on the Solovyev Live radio show, adding that their objective is to take Vuhledar "in pincers" just like they did in Soledar.  "This tactic is paying off," he added.

Another advisor to the DPR's acting head, Yan Gagin, relayed to the Russia-1 state broadcaster that the highway connecting the village of Pokrovske to Vuhledar is now under Russian control.

Although Russian troops were able to take over the city's outskirts, it proves complicated as it is surrounded by mines with underground infrastructure like Soledar and Mariupol, but the advisor simultaneously suggested that the takeover will impede Ukrainian encroachement and ammunition supply to the area - where they fire their strikes against the city of Donetsk. 

"The Vuhledar direction is the Donetsk sector of the front. The cities of Avdiivka and Marinka are located nearby. By taking Vuhledar, we can cut off the ammunition supply in this direction, as it is precisely from where [Ukrainian troops] strike at Donetsk. In addition, it will be possible to inflict both frontal and flanking attacks already from Vuhledar," Gagin added. 

This follows a week after the Russian Armed Forces managed to take control of the village of Klishchiivka, located near Bakhmut, in the DPR. It also comes two weeks after the takeover of Soledar, which Kimakovsky referred to above, where it was a severe sight of savage battle with the presence of Ukrainian forces alongside Bakhmut. Both key towns are located in the Kiev-controlled part of the DPR, which became part of the Russian Federation in September following popular referenda in the region, alongside other neighboring regions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the people living in the DPR, the Lugansk People's Republic, Kherson, and Zaparozhye "have become [Russian] citizens forever. I want people in Kiev and their real owners to listen to me; we call on Kiev to enter an immediate ceasefire to end the war they initiated back in 2014."

Bakhmut has been an important transport hub for supplying the Ukrainian troops in the Donbass in light of the Ukraine war.

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