Western leaders have said the war in Ukraine could last for years and will require long-term military support as Russia deploys reserve forces in an apparent attempt to take the eastern city of Severodonetsk.
“We need to prepare for the fact that this could take years,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with Germany’s Bild newspaper on Sunday. “We must not stop supporting Ukraine.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson echoed Stoltenberg’s comment. “I am afraid we have to steel ourselves for a long war,” he said, adding that “we need to attract time to the country of Ukraine.”
This came when the new head of the British army said that British troops must prepare to “fight again in Europe.” “There is now a burning imperative to create an army capable of fighting with our allies and defeating Russia in battle,” said General Sir Patrick Sanders, writing in his accusations of the challenges they face.
The statements suggest that the West believes that Ukraine cannot achieve a quick military breakthrough despite the expected arrival of fresh weapons according to NATO standards, while officials in the country continue to call for an ambulance.
Ukrainian forces remain in a defensive position in the eastern Donbass region, where fighting continues in Severodonetsk. Sergei Haidai, the governor of Luhansk region, said Russia was gaining strength in an attempt to take full control of the city after weeks of fighting.
“Today, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, they will throw away all the reserves they have … Since there are already so many of them, they are in critical mass,” Haidai told Ukrainian television.
Russia already controls most of Severodonetsk, Haidai said on Sunday morning, and if Ukrainian forces lose the city, fighting is expected to focus on neighboring Lisichansk, from which 32 residents were evacuated over the weekend despite heavy shelling.
Smoke and flames are rising from the Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk after a Russian bombing on Saturday. Photo: Reuters
The UK Ministry of Defense said in a morning update that the intense fighting meant that combat units on both sides were “likely to have changing morale”, a rare acknowledgment of the pressure both sides face.
“Ukrainian forces have probably suffered desertion in recent weeks. However, Russian morality is likely to remain particularly troubled. “There are still cases of refusal of orders from entire Russian units and armed clashes between officers and their troops,” the ministry said on Twitter.
Ukraine is calling for a large influx of Western weapons to try to repel Russian invaders, but what has been proposed so far is less than what Kyiv has demanded. The United States, Britain and Germany have promised to send 10 missile artillery systems, but Ukrainian advisers have asked for 60 or even 300.
A Ukrainian official said helping the country win a quick victory would be a long-term saving. Alexander Starukh, governor of the Zaporozhye region, said: “We need these weapons because winter is coming,” adding that the country will face greater economic costs if the war drags on.
The problems could spread beyond Ukraine, he said, noting that Europe could face a new wave of immigrants from African and Middle Eastern countries who previously relied on grain exports from Ukraine if the war continues to disrupt maritime exports.
Stoltenberg said the cost of long-term support for Ukraine was justified, despite the cost of military equipment and rising energy and food prices, because the West would pay a much higher price if Vladimir Putin succeeded and Russian forces occupied large parts of Ukraine.
Johnson, writing in the Sunday Times, said arms supplies must continue and that it will be necessary to “preserve the viability of the Ukrainian state” by providing financial support for payroll, school management, aid and start-ups. of reconstruction “.
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Ukraine’s mayors and district governors say they are already facing funding shortages and no money to repair infrastructure and buildings damaged in places like Borodyanka, northwest of Kyiv, as government spending is focused on military efforts. .
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky visited the southwestern front line in Nikolaev and the nearby city of Odessa on Saturday. After his visit, he insisted that Ukraine would not cede any of the occupied territories in the south of Russia, which occupies most of the country’s coastal areas.
“We will not give the south to anyone. “We will return everything we have and the sea will be Ukrainian and safe,” he said. “Russia does not have as many missiles as our people want to live.
Two commanders defending the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol – Svyatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Azov Battalion, and Sergei Volinsky, commander of the 36th Naval Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces – have been transferred to Russia, the Russian state news agency reported. . TASS reported on Saturday.
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