The war in Ukraine could last for years, says the head of NATO, who calls for strong support from Ukraine’s allies as Russian forces fight for territory in the east of the country.
Key points:
- Jens Stoltenberg said arms supply to Ukraine would increase chances of liberating its eastern region
- New British Army chief tells troops the UK must be “ready to fight” in wars in Europe
- Analysts believe that Russia will seize the city of Sievierodonetsk in a few weeks
Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the supply of state-of-the-art weapons to Ukrainian troops would increase the chances of freeing his eastern Donbas region from Russian control, the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported.
After failing to take the capital Kyiv at the start of the war, Russian forces have focused their efforts on trying to take full control of the Donbas, parts of which were already in the hands of Russian-backed separatists before the 24th invasion. February.
“We have to prepare for the fact that it could take years. We must not stop supporting Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said.
“Even if the costs are high, not only because of military support, but also because of rising energy and food prices.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who visited Kyiv on Friday with a training offer for Ukrainian forces, also said on Saturday that it was important for Britain to provide long-term support, warning of the risk of “Ukrainian fatigue” as the war drags on.
Boris Johnson warned of the risk of “fatigue of Ukraine.” (AP: Presidential Press Office of Ukraine)
In an opinion piece in the Sunday Times of London, Johnson said that this meant making sure that “Ukraine receives weapons, equipment, ammunition and training faster than the invader.”
It comes when the new head of the British army told troops that the UK must be “ready to fight” in the wars in Europe.
General Sir Patrick Sanders told British troops, according to the newspaper and Sunday: “I am the first Chief of Staff since 1941 to take command of the army in the shadow of a ground war in Europe. which implies a continental power “.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine underscores our primary purpose: to protect the United Kingdom by preparing to fight and win land wars.”
One of the main targets of Moscow’s offensive to take full control of the Luhansk region, one of the two provinces that make up the Donbas, is the industrial city of Sievierodonetsk.
Russia said on Sunday that its offensive in the city was continuing successfully.
Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai told Ukrainian television that the fighting made evacuations of the city impossible, but that “all the Russian claims that control the city are a lie. They control the main part of the city, but not the whole city. “
The Russian Defense Ministry said it had taken control of Metyolkine, just southeast of Sievierodonetsk, and the Russian state news agency TASS reported that many Ukrainian fighters had surrendered there.
The Ukrainian military said Russia was “partially successful” in the area.
Read more about the Russian invasion of Ukraine:
Russia strikes Kharkiv
Analysts at the Institute for War Study, a Washington-based think tank, wrote in a note that “Russian forces will probably be able to seize Sievierodonetsk in the coming weeks, but at the expense of concentrate most of its available forces in this small area “.
In the twin city of Sievierodonetsk in Lysychansk, residential buildings and private houses had been destroyed, Haidai said.
Local officials in Lysychansk say people are dying on the street. (Maxar Technologies via AP)
“People are dying on the streets and in the air raid shelters,” he added. He later said 19 people had been evacuated on Sunday.
In Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, northwest of Luhansk, the Russian Defense Ministry said its Iskander missiles had destroyed weapons recently supplied by Western countries.
Russian forces were trying to approach Kharkiv, which was heavily bombed early in the war, and turn it into a “front-line city,” a Ukrainian Interior Ministry official said.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said he would cancel a planned trip to Madrid to discuss rebuilding the city with Norman Foster and other architects because of the uncertainty caused by the increased bombing.
In southern Ukraine, Western armaments had helped Ukrainian forces advance 10 kilometers to Russia-occupied Melitopol, its mayor said in a video posted on Telegram from outside the city.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm battlefield accounts.
“We’re not going to give the south to anyone,” Zelenskyy says
Russia has said it has launched a so-called “special military operation” to disarm its neighbor and protect Russian-speaking people from dangerous nationalists. Kyiv and its allies rejected it as an unfounded pretext for a war of aggression.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has gathered citizens with daily filmed messages, said he had visited forces in the southern Mykolaiv region, about 550 kilometers south of Kyiv.
“His mood is assured: not everyone doubts our victory,” he said Sunday in a video that appeared to have been recorded on a moving train.
“We will not give the south to anyone, and we will recover everything that is ours.”
In the Mykolaiv and Odessa regions, Mr Zelenskyy said he had heard reports of the destruction of Russian attacks.
“The losses are significant. Many houses have been destroyed; civilian logistics have been disrupted,” he said.
Ukraine received a significant boost on Friday when the European Commission recommended it for candidate status, a decision that EU nations are expected to approve at a summit this week.
Although the actual accession could take years, Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said the measure put a common Ukrainian dream within reach.
“Whole generations struggled to get a chance to escape from the Soviet Union prison and, like a free bird, to fly to European civilization,” he said in a statement.
These sentiments run counter to one of the stated goals of Russian President Vladimir Putin when he ordered his troops to enter Ukraine: to keep Moscow’s southern neighbor out of Western sphere of influence.
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Posted 53 minutes ago 53 minutes ago dig. June 19, 2022 at 10:13 pm, updated 47 minutes ago 47 minutes ago dig. June 19, 2022 at 10:19 p.m.