Ministry of Defense: The Russian Armed Forces took control of Kleshcheevka in the DPR
The Russian army took control of the village of Kleshcheevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). This was reported on Wednesday, May 22, by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
In addition, units of the Yuzhnaya group of troops, which managed to take control of Kleshcheevka, hit personnel and equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in the area of Georgievka, Ostrogo and Konstantinovka in the DPR. The enemy lost about 365 military personnel, two armored combat vehicles, 18 vehicles and one D-20 and D-30 howitzer in this direction.
What strategic importance is Kleshcheevka?
Kleshcheevka is located southwest of Artemovsk (Ukrainian name – Bakhmut) and occupies a dominant height, which allows you to keep nearby territories under fire control. In Ukraine, this settlement was called “the key to Bakhmut.”
Photo: Alexey Mayshev / RIA Novosti
The taking of this village under control by the Russian Armed Forces is of great importance. There is a railway station on the Gorlovka – Artemovsk line. To the north-west of the settlement there is a highway that connects Artemovsk with the large city of Konstantinovka. The distance from Kleshcheevka to Artemovsk is about ten kilometers.
It was here that the Ukrainian Armed Forces tried to hold out after the liberation of Artemovsk. Now Russian fighters can begin to move freely south of the road to Chasov Yar.
At first, the Ukrainian Armed Forces tried to counterattack in Kleshcheevka, but then fled
At the beginning of this week, the Ukrainian Armed Forces attempted to counterattack the Russian army in the direction of Kleshcheevka. On the night of May 20, Ukrainian soldiers rode on ATVs towards the village, but were met and destroyed along with their equipment by soldiers of the Russian 6th Motorized Rifle Division.
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The next day, retired Lieutenant Colonel of the People’s Militia of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LMLPR), Andrei Marochko, reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had abandoned their positions in Kleshcheevka. “The retreat was chaotic, essentially it was a flight,” he emphasized. According to him, after this the Russian military began clearing the outskirts of the village. As Igor Kimakovsky, adviser to the head of the DPR, pointed out, Kyiv transferred forces in Chasov Yar, where a bad situation also developed for the enemy.
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Photo: Stanislav Krasilnikov / RIA Novosti
Kleshcheevka came under the control of the Wagnerites in 2023, but then was again occupied by the Ukrainian Armed Forces
On January 19 last year, the founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced that Kleshcheevka had been taken under control by the Wagnerites. At this moment, fierce battles were taking place around the settlement near Artemovsk, “the enemy clung to every meter of land.” On May 20, 2023, Wagner troops took full control of Artemovsk. The battle for the city lasted more than 200 days and became one of the longest since the start of the special operation. On May 21, the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed the taking of Artemovsk under control.
As a result of the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the fall of the same year, Kleshcheevka came under the control of the Ukrainian army. Since then there have been continuous battles for the village.
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