The State Border Service of Ukraine confirmed the death of Colonel Yuriy Yurchik, the Chief of Staff of the Special Forces of the department. Yurchik was killed near the settlement of Soledar, the press service of the department wrote on Telegram.
"Today we bid farewell to border guard Yuri Yurchik, who was killed near Soledar. Yesterday, there was a massive enemy shelling in the direction of Soledar, which claimed the life of Colonel Yuriy Yurchik,” the State Border Service said in a statement.
According to the department, Yurchik led the defence at firing positions near Soledar.
Military correspondent Andrey Rudenko reported on January 9 that Yurchik was killed during a Russian artillery strike.
Meanwhile, fighters of private military company PMC Wagner advance in the area of the cities of Soledar and Bakhmut (aka Artemovsk) in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). As noted, PMC Wagner fighters destroy "a huge number of opponents."
On January 7, it was reported that Ukrainian powerlifter Andrey Dmitriev was killed in battles near Bakhmut (aka Artemovsk). The athlete was mortally wounded during the fighting in the Donetsk region. He had participated in many competitions in his homeland and received awards for his achievements.