Key developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, day 321

We examine the key events as the Russia-Ukraine war enters its third hundred and twenty-onest day.

The status as of Tuesday, January 10, 2023 is as follows:
Two people were killed and four others were injured after a Russian missile struck a village market in Shevchenkove, Kharkiv, including a 10-year-old girl.

The Kremlin claimed to be sure in the defence ministry's claim that an attack on Kramatorsk resulted in the "destroying" of 600 Ukrainian soldiers.

According to Ukrainian forces, they are successfully defending Bakhmut and other eastern Donbas towns from ongoing Russian onslaught.

Charles Stratford of Al Jazeera reported from Kiev that there is fierce fighting close to Bakhmut, notably a few kilometres north of Soledar, a salt mining town that has been hotly fought recently.

In the eastern Donetsk area, separatist troops supported by Russia claimed to have taken control of a village close to Bakhmut that Moscow had been attempting to grab for months.

Diplomacy:

A top Russian official was not talking to European authorities about a prospective peace agreement, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, blasted Russia once more for conducting strikes on Ukrainian cities in violation of the cease-fire it had declared for Orthodox Christmas.

In a phone discussion with his recently appointed Chinese counterpart, Qin Gang, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed pleasure with the progress of the two countries' bilateral political discourse and practical collaboration.

According to Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser for the United States, Iran might help Russia commit war crimes in Ukraine by giving them drones.

New Western armament shipments to Kiev, according to the Kremlin, would just "deepen the pain of the Ukrainian people" and won't alter the path of the conflict.

Later this week, human rights commissioners from Russia and Ukraine will gather in Turkey to presumably discuss more prisoner swaps.

Economy

• About 76 percent of foreign companies continue to operate in Russia, the head of Russia’s lower legislative chamber said.
• Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Kyiv expects the European Union to include Russian state nuclear energy company Rosatom in its next round of sanctions.