Western leaders have warned that 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.
Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, said in an interview with the German newspaper Bild on Sunday: “We need to prepare for the fact that this may take years. We must not refuse to support Ukraine.
The remarks of the head of the military alliance were echoed by Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, who said: “I am afraid we have to steel ourselves for a long war”, adding that it is necessary “to attract the time to 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 the West believes Ukraine cannot make a quick military breakthrough despite the expected arrival of fresh NATO-standard weapons, 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 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 in the Donbass region 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 told the Guardian that helping the country win a quick victory would be a salvation in the long run. Alexander Starukh, governor of the Zaporozhye region, said: “We need these weapons because winter is coming” and that the country will face greater economic costs if the war drags on.
The problems could spread beyond Ukraine, he added, arguing that “Europe could face a new wave of immigrants” coming 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 is justified, despite the cost of military support and “rising energy and food prices”, because the West “will pay a much higher price” if Vladimir Putin succeeds and Russian forces occupy 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 most are already facing funding shortages and no money to repair infrastructure and buildings damaged in places like Borodyanka, northwest of Kyiv, in the four-month war because government spending is targeted. to military efforts.
The President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky visited the southwestern front line in Nikolaev on Saturday and the nearby city of Odessa. 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, “the president 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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