The Russian Wagner Group claims to have taken the gateway town of Soledar, while Kyiv denies the capture. Meanwhile Russian strikes hit Kharkiv after a visit by Germany's foreign minister. DW has the latest.
Ukrainian troops to train on Patriot system in Oklahoma About 100 Ukrainian troops will head to Oklahoma's Fort Sill as soon as next week to begin training on the Patriot missile defense system, getting Kyiv closer to obtaining the long-sought protection against Russia's missile attacks. The number of Ukrainians coming to Fort Sill is approximately the number it takes to operate one battery, and they will focus on learning to operate and also maintain the Patriot, Pentagon spokesman Air Force General Pat Ryder said. Patriot training normally can take several months, but "the longer those troops are off the line, they're not actually engaged in combat," Ryder said, so the training will be shortened. Fort Sill was selected because it already runs Patriot training schools, Ryder said. The US pledged one Patriot battery in December as part of one of several large military assistance packages it has provided Ukraine in recent weeks. Last week Germany pledged an additional Patriot battery.
Kyiv denied that Russian mercenary group Wagner had taken the important gateway town of Soledar in east Ukraine. If captured, the taking of Soledar could pave the way for further advancements of the Russian military in the Donbas region.
"Soledar was, is and will be Ukrainian," the strategic communications branch of the Ukrainian military said in a statement. It also stated that pictures released by the Wagner group which Russian media proclaimed were taken in Soledar had been taken somewhere else.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar wrote on Telegram that "heavy fighting to defend Soledar continues."
"Regardless of its losses, the enemy continues to attack," Malyar said.
Prior to that, Russian mercenary group Wagner stated its forces captured Soledar after days of heavy fighting, as Russian state news agency TASS reported. The town of Soledar lies some 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the strategic city of Bakhmut. The area around Soledar and Bakhmut is the last large area in the Donbas region that the Ukrainians still control.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner group's chief, stated several Ukrainian soldiers were still encircled in the center of the disputed town. However, the US think tank Institute for the Study of War questioned Soledar's fate, as there was only visual confirmation that Wagner troops had entered the city center.
Here are other related developments concerning the war in Ukraine on January 11:
Kharkiv hit after German minister's visit
Russian strikes hit the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv late Tuesday, the regional governor said, just hours after a surprise visit by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.
"Stay in the shelters. The occupiers are bombing again!" regional governor Oleg Synegubov warned on Telegram.
Kharkiv has faced heavy bombardment during the war, but the frontline has moved east since a Ukrainian counteroffensive retook territory from Russian forces.
Baerbock, who on Tuesday became the highest-level Western official to visit Kharkiv, had pledged further German support for Ukraine.
"In all parts of Ukraine, from Kharkiv to Kherson to Kyiv, people should know they can rely on our solidarity and support," she said.
She stressed that Germany will keep supplying weapons "that Ukraine needs in order to free its citizens who are still suffering under the terror of Russian occupation.
Zelenskyy expatriates four pro-Russian members of parliament
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the expatriation of four pro-Russian members of parliament who are suspected of now residing in Russia and having obtained citizenship there.
"If people's deputies choose to serve not the people of Ukraine, but the murderers who came to Ukraine, our actions will be appropriate," Zelenskyy said in his regular video address.
Action was taken "based on the materials prepared by the Security Service of Ukraine and the State Migration Service of Ukraine, and in accordance with the Constitution," the Ukrainian president said.
The four individuals affected are Andriy Derkach, Taras Kozak, Renat Kuzmin and
Medvedchuk arrived in Russia in SeptembeViktor Medvedchuk.r as part of a prisoner exchange. Derkach, Kozak and Kuzmin are also believed to be in Russia and all four are suspected of having Russian citizenship.
The four lawmakers represented a pro-Russian party, Opposition Platform - For Life, which was banned following the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
Ukrainian troops to train on Patriot system in Oklahoma
About 100 Ukrainian troops will head to Oklahoma's Fort Sill as soon as next week to begin training on the Patriot missile defense system, getting Kyiv closer to obtaining the long-sought protection against Russia's missile attacks.
The number of Ukrainians coming to Fort Sill is approximately the number it takes to operate one battery, and they will focus on learning to operate and also maintain the Patriot, Pentagon spokesman Air Force General Pat Ryder said.
Patriot training normally can take several months, but "the longer those troops are off the line, they're not actually engaged in combat," Ryder said, so the training will be shortened. Fort Sill was selected because it already runs Patriot training schools, Ryder said.
The US pledged one Patriot battery in December as part of one of several large military assistance packages it has provided Ukraine in recent weeks. Last week Germany pledged an additional Patriot battery.