 Ukraine's military said it had withdrawn from two more villages near the eastern town of Abdiivka which was captured earlier this month by Russian forces, losing more territory as support from its western allies runs short.A senior commander said troops had consolidated new defensive positions west of Abdiivka, whose capture was the biggest Russian battlefield gain in nine months. Ukrainian military spokesperson Dmitry Lykovich said troops had pulled back from Sivirn and Stepov, a day after. Kiev announced it had abandoned the village of Lastokind. Our forces withdrew from the small villages of Sivirn and Stepov. Heavy battles for Sivirn went on Lykovich said, adding that Russia had taken significant losses in that fight, Ukraine was pulling back to positions level with the rest of the eastern front line, to terrain more suitable for defense, Lykovich said, Sivirn and Stepov had a total population of fewer than 100 people before the invasion. Old military analyst Julian Ropp said that the Russian armed forces advanced up to five kilometers from Abdiivka and occupied the villages of Stepov, Sivirn, Lastokind and Badyanoi. As Julian Ropp said, Russian troops continued to advance along a 10 to 15 kilometers wide front. However, according to him, the Ukrainian command set up the defensive line Berdekai, Semyonovka or Lovka, Tannenko, Purvomesko. In the coming days, we will see whether they really managed to establish a defense line there or not, Ropp said. If Ukraine loses, NATO will fight Russia, Pentagon chief. Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin believes that if Ukraine loses the full-scale war with Russia, the latter will be forced to fight the entire North Atlantic Alliance. Austin said this at the U.S. House Armed Services Committee hearing, although the hearing focused primarily on Austin's hospitalization at the beginning of the year, about which he did not notify either the White House or Congress in advance, the congressman also asked several questions about how much U.S. military assistance Ukraine requires. The Defense Secretary emphasized that the approval of additional funding for Kyiv is important to prevent a situation in the world where one country can redraw its neighbor's boundaries and illegitimately take over its sovereign territory. We know that if Putin is successful here, he will not stop. He will continue to take more aggressive actions in the region and other leaders around the world, other autocrats around the world will look at this and will be encouraged by the fact that this happened and we failed to support a democracy, he added. Later, Austin clarified that if Ukraine loses on the battlefield, the Baltic countries may be threatened. If you are a Baltic state, you are really worried about whether you are next. They know Putin. They know what he is capable of. And frankly, if Ukraine falls, I really believe that NATO will be in a fight with Russia. The official said, Russian MFA spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on Austin's statement. Is this a direct threat to Russia or an attempt to come up with an excuse for Zelensky? Both are insane. British soldiers in Ukraine helping fire missiles, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reveals. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has come under fire from the UK after he suggested that there were British troops operating in the Ukraine conflict. Olaf Scholz said that he would not deliver the long-range Taurus missiles, Berlin's equivalent of a storm shadow as it would require soldiers assisting on the ground, citing the UK and French approach with their own systems. Scholz argued that following the UK would make Germany a participant in the war. The comments were seen as endangering British military and diplomatic personnel on the ground. Scholz went on to say that Taurus is a very long-range weapon and what was done on the part of the British and French in terms of target control and target control assistance can't be done in Germany. Commenting on Scholz's remark, Tobias Elwood, the former chair of the British Commons Defence Committee, said it was a flagrant abuse of intelligence deliberately designed to distract from Germany's reluctance to arm Ukraine with its own long-range missile system as quoted by the Telegram. The British lawmaker was also sure that the statement would be used by Russia to ratchet up the escalator ladder. German soldiers can, at no point and in no place, be linked with the targets that this system reaches. Scholz insisted, even if operating from German soil, according to the DPA news agency. The German Chancellor stated that it would be not very responsible for his country to risk becoming a party to the war. Meanwhile, the Financial Times quoted an anonymous senior European Defence official as saying that everyone knows that there are Western special forces in Ukraine. They've just not acknowledged it officially.