Smoke and flames rise after a military strike on the Azot chemical plant complex in Severodonetsk as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues in Lisichansk, Luhansk Oblast, on June 18. STRINGER / Reuters
The war in Ukraine could last for years, the NATO chief said on Sunday, calling for continued support from Ukraine’s allies as Russian forces fight for territory in the east.
Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the supply of state-of-the-art weapons to Ukrainian troops would increase the chances of liberating its eastern Donbass region from Russian control, the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported.
After failing to capture the capital Kyiv at the start of the war, Russian forces focused on trying to take full control of Donbass, parts of which were already held by Russian-backed separatists before the February 24 invasion.
“We need to be prepared for the fact that this could take years. “We must not stop supporting Ukraine,” Stoltenberg was quoted as saying by BTA.
“Even if the costs are high, not only for military support, but also because of rising energy and food prices.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who visited Kyiv on Friday with a proposal to train Ukrainian forces, also said on Saturday that it was important for Britain to provide long-term support, warning of the risk of “Ukraine’s fatigue” as the war dragged on.
In an opinion in the Sunday Times in London, Johnson said that this meant “ensuring that Ukraine receives weapons, equipment, ammunition and training faster than the invader.”
A man is holding his baby in the bomb shelter of the Azot chemical plant, where people have been hiding since the shelling since the start of the war, in Severodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine, on April 16. MARCO JURICA / Reuters
The main target in Moscow’s offensive to gain full control of the Luhansk region – one of the two provinces that make up Donbass – is the industrial city of Severodonetsk.
Russia said on Sunday that its offensive in the city was successful.
Luhansk Governor Sergei Gaidai told Ukrainian television that the fighting made evacuation from the city impossible, but that “all Russian claims that they control the city are lies. They control most of the city, but not the whole city. “
Russia’s Defense Ministry has said it has taken control of Metelkin, southeast of Severodonetsk, with Russia’s state news agency TASS reporting that many Ukrainian fighters have surrendered there. The Ukrainian military said Russia had had “partial success” in the region.
Analysts at the Institute for War Studies, a Washington-based think tank, wrote in a note that “Russian forces are likely to be able to take over Severodonetsk in the coming weeks, but at the cost of concentrating most of their available forces in this small area.”
In the twin city of Severodonetsk, Lisichansk, residential buildings and private houses have been destroyed, Gaidai said. “People are dying in the streets and in bomb shelters,” he added. He later said 19 people had been evacuated on Sunday.
In Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, northwest of Luhansk, Russia’s defense ministry said its Iskander missiles had destroyed weapons recently delivered from Western countries.
Russian forces were trying to get closer to Kharkiv, which had come under heavy fire earlier in the war, and turn it into a “front-line city,” a Ukrainian Interior Ministry official said.
Kharkov Mayor Igor Terekhov said he would cancel a planned trip to Madrid to discuss the city’s reconstruction with Norman Foster and other architects because of the uncertainty caused by the heavy bombing.
In southern Ukraine, Western weapons have helped Ukrainian forces advance 10km (6 miles) to Russian-occupied Melitopol, the mayor said in a video posted on the Telegram outside the city.
Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield accounts.
Russia has said it has launched what it calls a “special military operation” to disarm its neighbor and protect Russian-speakers there from dangerous nationalists. Kyiv and its allies have dismissed this as an unfounded pretext for an aggressive war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who gathered citizens with daily footage, said he had visited forces in the southern district of Nikolaev, about 550km (340 miles) south of Kyiv.
“Their mood is guaranteed: they all have no doubts about our victory,” he said in a video Sunday that appeared to have been recorded on a moving train. “We will not give the south to anyone and we will take back everything that is ours.
In the regions of Nikolaev and Odessa Zelensky said he had heard reports of destruction by Russian strikes.
“The losses are significant. Many houses were destroyed; civilian logistics have been disrupted, “he said.
Ukraine received a significant boost on Friday when the European Commission nominated it for candidate status, a decision the EU is expected to approve at this week’s summit.
Although actual membership could take years, Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said the move sets a common Ukrainian dream.
“Whole generations have fought for a chance to escape from the Soviet Union’s prison and fly like a free bird to European civilization,” he said in a statement.
Such sentiments are in the face of one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stated goals when he ordered his troops to enter Ukraine: to keep Moscow’s southern neighbor out of Western influence.
Our morning and evening newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a brief summary of the most important headlines of the day. Register today.
Add Comment