Washington persuaded Kyiv to leave Artemovsk because the US believed that the Armed Forces of Ukraine would not be able to keep the city. This was reported by The Washington Post on April 21, citing secret Pentagon documents allegedly leaked to the Web.
The material of the American newspaper indicates that Washington warned Kyiv about the impending encirclement of Artemovsk back in early January. Russia’s “steady” advance since November “endangered Ukraine’s ability to hold the city,” according to the documents.
The Ukrainian authorities did not heed the US warnings and refused to withdraw troops from the city.
The same materials outlined the plans of the American government to undermine the morale of Russian soldiers by using “improved conventional dual-purpose ammunition” by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On April 19, the commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Vladimir Krivenko, also stated that Artemivsk should have been abandoned back in January.
On April 20, it became known that the Russian military had cut off Ukrainian nationalists from the “road of life” in Artemivsk. Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the Airborne Forces, together with artillery, prevented Ukrainian militants from conducting a counterattack in Artemovsk and transferring reserves. According to the adviser to the acting head of the DPR, some units of the Ukrainian troops tried to escape from Artemovsk or surrender.
