NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the Ukrainian defence of Bakhmut may fall into Russian hands in the coming days. Still, it would not necessarily be a turning point in the war.

According to Stoltenberg, fierce battles have been raging around Bakhmut in recent months, while Russia has been throwing new manpower and equipment in this direction.

"What we see is that Russia is throwing more troops, more forces and what Russia lacks in quality, they try to make up in quantity. They have suffered big losses, but at the same time, we cannot rule out that Bakhmut may eventually fall in the coming days," Stoltenberg said at EU defenсe ministers meeting in Stockholm.

According to him, if this happens, it will not necessarily represent a turning point in the war.

"It just highlights that we should not underestimate Russia. We must continue to provide support to Ukraine," the Secretary General of the Alliance underlined.

The day before, British intelligence reported that the Ukrainian defence of Bakhmut continues to exhaust the forces of Ukrainian defenders and Russian invaders (Ukr).

Western intelligence estimates Russia's losses in killed and wounded in the battles for the city of Bakhmut at 20-30 thousand mercenaries of the private military company "Wagner."