Russian forces have ramped up their assault on the small salt mining town of Soledar as part of a wider effort to seize land in the eastern industrial Donbas region.

Ukrainian troops have been forced to repel waves of attacks led by mercenary forces, according to officials in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

The UK's Ministry of Defence on Tuesday said that Russian forces, including the Wagner Group private military company, were probably now in control of most of the town after advances in the last four days.

Taking control of the town would be an advantage to Moscow's military as it fights for the city of Bakhmut, some 9 kilometers (roughly 5 miles) to the southwest. Both Russian and Ukrainian troops have sustained heavy losses in the fight for Bakhmut in intensive trench warfare since the beginning of August.

The ministry speculated that the Russian military was seeking to envelop Bakhmut from the north — and to disrupt Ukrainian lines of communication.

It said that some of the fighting was focused on entrances to the 200-kilometer-long disused salt mine tunnels that run underneath the district, with each side being concerned that they could be used for infiltration behind their lines.

The British assessment speculated that Russia was still far from its wider objective of taking Bakhmut.

"Despite the increased pressure on Bakhmut, Russia is unlikely to envelop the town imminently because Ukrainian forces maintain stable defensive lines in depth and control over supply routes," it said.

Describing the scenes around Soledar and Bakhmut, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday said it was "covered with the corpses of the occupiers and scars from the strikes."

"This is what madness looks like," he said.

Here are the other main headlines from the war in Ukraine on Tuesday January 10.

Top Putin ally says West wants to destroy Russia

One of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest allies says Russia is now fighting the US-led NATO military alliance in Ukraine.

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said the West was seeking to wipe Russia from the political map of the world.

"The events in Ukraine are not a clash between Moscow and Kyiv — this is a military confrontation between Russia and NATO, and above all the United States and Britain," Patrushev said.

"The Westerners' plans are to continue to pull Russia apart, and eventually just erase it from the political map of the world," Patrushev told the Argumenty i Fakty newspaper.

Patrushev is a former Soviet spy who has known Putin since the 1970s. He is seen by some as one of the few people able to exert influence on the Russian president.

NATO and EU agree more cooperation for Ukraine

Top officials from the NATO military alliance and the EU have pledged to expand cooperation between the two institutions in a joint declaration that was signed in Brussels.

Both supranational organizations, which share 21 members, "condemn in the strongest possible terms Russia's aggression," the declaration, signed at NATO headquarters, read.

"Cooperation more important than ever," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg after the signing alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel.

More on the war in Ukraine

The European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans says "Ukraine deserves all our support," during a visit to Kyiv where he met the Ukrainian prime minister. Timmermans spoke to DW about the extent and shape of European support to Ukraine amid the ongoing war with Russia.

Saltivka is a northern district in the Ukrainian metropolis of Kharkiv. The suburban area was hit harder by Russian shelling than any other area in the country. Yet, despite the ongoing war, many people are returning.

rc/msh (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)