The Kremlin had positioned the most experienced units from the Wagner military-contracting company near the town of Soledar in the eastern Donetsk region, according to Ukrainian operational command spokesman Serhiy Cherevatyi. Ukrainian forces were holding the line following 86 artillery attacks “of various caliber,” he said. 

The European Union sought to forge a common line with NATO as the 27-member bloc signed a joint declaration with the transatlantic military alliance. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the accord solidified an EU defense that’s “complementary to and interoperable with NATO.” 

On the Ground

Ukrainian forces repelled attacks near 13 settlements throughout the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions over the past day, including Soledar, the General Staff said in its morning update on Facebook. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said the assault on Soledar followed previous unsuccessful attempts to capture it, resulting in heavy losses. Zelenskiy said in his nightly address that the resilience of the Ukrainian troops allowed his country to gain additional time, noting that “there are almost no whole walls left” to defend the settlement. Russian forces also shelled civilian infrastructure in the cities of Kharkiv, Kherson, Kramatorsk and Ochakiv over the past day, the Ukrainian military said.

(All times CET)

Ukrainian Troops to Train in US on Patriot System (5:36 p.m.)

Ukrainian troops will be brought to Fort Sill, an army training base in Oklahoma, as soon as this month for the extensive training required to operate the Patriot missile defense system, according to a US defense official.

The US announced in December that it was delivering one of the powerful but complex air-defense systems to Ukraine — and Germany said last week that it would provide another. The plan for training at Fort Sill was reported earlier by CNN.