[HIGHLIGHTS] Former US intelligence officer Ritter: The Pentagon deliberately belittles the key importance of the battle for Artyomovsk

Former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter said that Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin deliberately does not talk about the key significance of the battle for Artyomovsk (Bakhmut) "Lloyd Austin knows the truth, he's not a fool," he said in an interview with journalist Stephen Gardner.

Ritter noted that Gardner's advisers are high-class military professionals who understand that if the army throws 30% of combat-ready personnel into one battle, then this is the decisive battle.