NATO: Battles around Bakhmut and Soledar show importance of strengthening military support to Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made the statement at a briefing.

"In recent days, we have seen fierce fighting around Bakhmut and Soledar in eastern Ukraine. This shows once again the bravery of Ukrainian forces as they fight to defend their homeland. It also shows how vital it is that we step up our support, our military support to Ukraine," Jens Stoltenberg said.

The NATO Secretary General also announced the establishment of the NATO-EU task force on resilience and critical infrastructure. "We want to look together at how to make our critical infrastructure, technology and supply chains more resilient to potential threats, and to take action to mitigate potential vulnerabilities," he stated.

• On January 9, the Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled Russian attacks near Soledar, Bakhmut, Maryinka and 10 other settlements.
• British intelligence believes that Russian troops are trying to capture Soledar, Donetsk region, in order to surround Bakhmut located near the town.
• On January 10, Russian troops tried to attack Soledar from 3 directions, according to what the Defense Express CEO Serhiy Zgurets said on Espreso.
• On the same day, the spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Serhiy Cherevatyi said that the Russian troops fired 86 times at Soledar from artillery during the day.