KYIV: NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned Sunday that the conflict in Ukraine might go on for years, and he urged allies of Ukraine to remain firm in their support.
Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told Bild am Sonntag newspaper that arming Ukraine’s military with the most up-to-date equipment will increase its chances of liberating the eastern area of Donbas from Russian control.
Because they failed to capture Kyiv early in the conflict, Russian forces have turned their attention to the Donbas, which had already been partially controlled by Russian-backed rebels before the Feb. 24 invasion.
“This might take a long time, and we need to be prepared for it,” Stoltenberg was cited as stating, “We must not let up on our support for Ukraine.” However, ” the expenses are significant, not only for military support but also because of rising energy and food prices.”
During a visit to Kyiv on Friday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson offered to train Ukrainian soldiers, and on Saturday he warned of the danger of “Ukraine weariness” as the conflict rages on.
According to Johnson, this meant ensuring that “Ukraine received guns, equipment, ammunition, and training faster than the invader” in London’s Sunday Times.
Zelensky, who has been delivering daily televised addresses to Ukraine’s residents, stated that he had visited military units in the southern Mykolaiv area, roughly 340 miles south of the capital, Kyiv.
In a video that looked to have been shot on a moving train, he remarked, “Their attitude is assured: they all do not question our win. As long as the south remains ours, we will not hand it over to anybody else.”
As far as Zelenskiy knew, Russian airstrikes had destroyed areas in Mykolaiv and Odesa provinces.
“The losses are substantial. Houses were levelled and civilian logistics were thrown off,” he declared.
SIEVIERODONETSK COMMAND AND CONTROL
The city of Sievierodonetsk, one of the two provinces that make up the Donbas, is a primary target in Moscow’s effort to retake complete control of the Luhansk area, one of the two provinces that make up the Donbas.
“All Russian assertions that they control the town are a hoax.”
According to Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai, the city is under their control, but they do not have total control, as he explained to the Ukrainian media, adding that fighting has rendered evacuations from the city difficult.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that it had gained control of Metyolkine, a town south of Sievierodonetsk where several Ukrainian forces had surrendered, according to the Russian official news agency TASS. There has been “limited success” in the region, according to Ukrainian military sources.
Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, stated in a report that “Russian troops will probably be able to occupy Sievierodonetsk in the next weeks but at the cost of concentrating most of their available forces in one tiny area.”
In Sievierodonetsk’s twin city of Lysychansk, residential structures and private dwellings had been demolished, Gaidai added. On the street, and in bomb shelters, people are dying, he said.
Russia’s defence ministry reported that its Iskander missiles destroyed Western-supplied weapons near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, northwest of Luhansk.
According to a Ukrainian interior ministry spokesman, Russian soldiers were attempting to move closer to Kharkiv, which had been subjected to heavy bombardment during the war’s first two months.
At a fuel storage station west of Donbas, Russian missiles killed two persons and injured 13, according to the regional administration chief. Heavy black smoke was seen billowing in footage confirmed by Reuters.
A video shared on Telegram from outside the city of Melitopol shows Ukrainian soldiers had advanced 10 kilometres (6 miles) towards Russian-occupied Melitopol thanks to Western armament.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports from the front lines of the conflict.
This “special military operation” is designed to disarm and safeguard Russian speakers in Ukraine from nationalists, Russia claims. Allies of Kyiv saw it as an excuse to go to war and disregarded it as such.
The European Commission on Friday proposed Ukraine for candidate status, a move the EU members are anticipated to accept at a conference this week. This is a big boost for Ukraine. The process of becoming a member may take years.
Works at The Truth International Magazine. My area of interest includes international relations, peace & conflict studies, qualitative & quantitative research in social sciences, and world politics. Reach@ [email protected]
