Four months of brutal fighting in Ukraine appear to be straining the morale of troops on both sides, leading to desertions and rebellion against the orders of officers, British defense officials said on Sunday. The head of NATO warned that the war could last for “years”.
“Combat units on both sides are committed to heavy fighting in the Donbas and are likely to experience variable morale,” the British Defense Ministry said in its daily assessment of the war.
“Ukrainian forces are likely to have suffered desertions in recent weeks,” the assessment said, but added that “Russia’s morale is very likely to remain particularly worrying.”
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He said that “there are still cases of entire Russian units rejecting orders and armed clashes between officers and their troops.”
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Separately, the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine published what it said were intercepted phone calls in which Russian soldiers complained about front-line conditions, poor equipment and general lack of personnel. according to a report by the Institute for the Study of War.
In an interview published Sunday in the German weekly Bild am Sonntag, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said “no one knows” how long the war could last. “We have to be prepared for it to last for years,” he said.
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He also urged allies not to “weaken support for Ukraine, even if the costs are high, not only in terms of military aid, but also because of rising energy and food prices.”
In recent days, Gazprom, the Russian gas company, has reduced its supply to two major European customers: Germany and Italy. In the case of Italy, energy officials are expected to meet this week on the situation. The head of Italian energy giant ENI said on Saturday that with additional gas purchased from other sources, Italy should overcome next winter, but warned Italians that “restrictions” may be needed to affect gas use.
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Germany will limit the use of gas for electricity production amid concerns over a possible shortage caused by a reduction in Russia’s supplies, the country’s economy minister said on Sunday. Germany has tried to fill its gas storage facilities to capacity before the cold winter months.
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Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Germany would try to offset the measure by increasing the combustion of coal, a more polluting fossil fuel. “This is bitter, but it is simply necessary in this situation to reduce gas consumption,” he said.
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Stoltenberg stressed, however, that “the costs of food and fuel are nothing compared to those paid daily by Ukrainians on the front line.”
Stoltenberg added: In addition, if Russian President Vladimir Putin achieves his goals in Ukraine, as when he annexed Crimea in 2014, “we should pay an even higher price.”
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The British Defense Ministry said that both Russia and Ukraine have continued to carry out heavy artillery bombardment on axes north, east and south of the Sieverodonetsk pocket, but with few changes to the front line.
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Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai told the Telegram on Sunday: “This is a very difficult situation in Sievierodonetsk, where the enemy in the city center is conducting 24-hour aerial reconnaissance with drones, adjusting fire. adapting quickly to our changes. ”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday that Russian and separatist forces had taken control of Metolkine, a settlement east of Sievierodonetsk.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a trip south from Kyiv to visit troops and hospital workers in the Mykolaiv and Odessa regions along the Black Sea. He handed out prizes to dozens of people at each stop, shaking their hands and thanking them again and again for their service.
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Some time after Zelenskyy left Mykolaiv, “the enemy did fire damage against units of the Defense Forces with cannon and rocket artillery in the areas of the settlements of Pravdyne, Posad-Pokrovskoe and Blahodatne,” according to the briefing. the Ukrainian army on Sunday.
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In other attacks in the south, the military operational command of southern Ukraine said on Sunday that two people had been killed in bombings in the Galitsyn community in the Mykolaiv region and that bombing in the Bashtansky district continues.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the sea missiles destroyed a plant in the city of Mykolaiv where Western-supplied shells and armored vehicles were stored.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has expressed concern that “a little tiredness in Ukraine is beginning to emerge around the world” and has called for support for Ukraine’s efforts to reverse the Russian invasion.
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“It would be a catastrophe if Putin won. He would like nothing more than to say, ‘Let’s freeze this conflict, let’s have a ceasefire,'” Johnson said on Saturday, a day after a surprise visit to Kyiv, where he met with Zelenskyy and offered him continued assistance and military training.
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Western-supplied heavy weapons are reaching the front line. But Ukrainian leaders have insisted for weeks that they need more weapons and need them sooner.
On Sunday, Pope Francis, despite lamenting the accumulation of weapons, added his own admonition to those who could lose focus in Ukraine, which he said deserves to be defended.
“And let’s not forget the martyred Ukrainian people right now,” Francis told the audience in St. Peter’s Square. He urged them to ask, “What have I done for the Ukrainian people today?”
– Sylvia Hui contributed from London, Frank Jordans from Berlin and Frances D’Emilio from Rome.
© 2022 The Canadian Press