Kiev: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Wednesday that Bakhmut, a town in eastern Ukraine, could fall under Russian control in the coming days after months of fierce fighting.

In the midst of the longest battle since Moscow invaded Ukraine a year ago, the Wagner mercenary group that led the assault on Bakhmut claims to have captured the industrial city's east bank as he made the comments.

Wagner and the leader of Kremlin ally Yevgeny Prigozin announced on social media on Wednesday that their troops had taken "all the eastern part of Bakhmut", a salt mining town with 80,000 residents before the war.

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The longest and bloodiest fighting in Russia's more than year-long offensive, which has destroyed large parts of Ukraine and forced millions of people from their homes, took place around Bakhmut.

Stoltenberg told reporters in Stockholm on the sidelines of a meeting of EU defense ministers, "What we're seeing is that Russia is throwing in more troops, more forces, and what Russia lacks in quality they can make up for in quantity." trying."

"We cannot rule out that Bakhmut may eventually fall in the coming days," said the commander of the US-led military coalition, adding that "this does not necessarily indicate a turning point in the war."

In a CNN interview, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a dire warning about the possible consequences should Bakhmut fall into the hands of Russian forces. After Bakhmut, we understand that (the Russian army) may continue and attack neighboring cities in the Donetsk region.

In an interview broadcast on Wednesday, Zelensky said, "They can go to Kramatorsk, they can go to Sloviansk, it will be an open road for Russians in the Donetsk direction, to other cities in Ukraine after Bakhmut.

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In a live-streamed meeting on Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu warned military leaders that seizing the city would open the door to "further offensive operations" in eastern Ukraine. According to Prigozhin, the city was still being defended by 12,000 to 20,000 Ukrainian troops.

According to Zelensky, his armed forces were determined to remain in Bakhmut. Naturally, we must consider the lives of our military personnel. However, we must act while we receive supplies and weapons and as our forces prepare to strike back.

On Wednesday, Zelensky welcomed UN chief Antonio Guterres to Kiev for his third visit to the country since Russia's invasion. The accord, which has allowed Ukraine to export its grain but is set to expire, was stressed by Guterres as a necessity.

I want to emphasize how important the Black Sea Grain Initiative rollover on March 18 is, according to Guterres.

As pressure mounts on Kiev's allies to ramp up supplies for the war effort, EU defense ministers are meeting in Stockholm to discuss a plan to immediately send one billion euros worth of ammunition to Ukraine.

According to Kiev's Western supporters, the 155-millimetre howitzer shells are critically short, despite the thousands of them being fired continuously to counter the Russian offensive.

According to Stoltenberg, we must increase production because the current disparity between ammunition production and consumption cannot continue.

Last year's sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines was allegedly carried out by a "pro-Ukrainian group," according to a report published Tuesday in The New York Times.

This can lead to difficult discussions between colleagues. Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told reporters in Stockholm that this was not his activity.

Zelensky invited US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to visit Ukraine and experience the conflict firsthand during a CNN interview. McCarthy has repeatedly argued that Congress should not write the law, even though he has not opposed US aid to Ukraine.

Mr. McCarthy needs to meet with us to learn more about how we work, what's going on, how the war has affected us, who's fighting now, and how we got here. Then make your assumptions, Zelensky advised.

On Wednesday, Ukraine announced that the man fatally shot in a video that sparked an outcry on social media was one of its soldiers.

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The video shows the captured Ukrainian fighter standing in a small ditch smoking and shouting "Victory to Ukraine" before being shot.

A spokeswoman for the UN human rights office told AFP on Wednesday that "based on a preliminary review, we think the video may be genuine".