NATO’s Stoltenberg said that Russia’s war in Ukraine could drag on for years.
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The head of NATO on Sunday said the war in Ukraine could drag on for years as Russia stepped up its attacks after the European Union recommended Kyiv as a candidate to join the bloc.
Jens Stoltenberg said the supply of advanced weapons to the Ukrainian army will boost the chances of freeing the eastern Donbas region from Russian control, German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reports.
“We have to prepare for the fact that it could take years. We must not give up on supporting Ukraine,” said Stoltenberg, secretary general of the military alliance.
“Even if the costs are high, not just because of military support, but also because of rising food and energy prices.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who visited Kyiv on Friday, also spoke of the need to prepare for a long war.
This means ensuring “Ukraine receives weapons, equipment, ammunition and training faster than the invader,” Johnson wrote in an article in London’s Sunday Times.
“Time is vital,” he wrote. “Everything will depend on whether Ukraine can strengthen its land defense capabilities faster than Russia can renew its offensive capabilities.”
Ukraine received a significant boost on Friday when the European Commission recommended the country for its candidacy, a decision that EU states are expected to adopt at a summit. in this week.
That would put Ukraine on course to realize an aspiration seen as out of reach before the Russian invasion on February 24, even if membership could take years.
Enhanced Attacks
Russian attacks intensify on Ukrainian battlefields.
The Ukrainian military said that the industrial city of Sievierodonetsk, a key target of Moscow’s offensive to gain full control of Luhansk – one of the two provinces that make up the Donbas – was again faced with artillery and rocket fire. heavy.
“The situation in Sievierodonetsk is very difficult,” Serhiy Gaidai, Ukraine’s appointed governor of Luhansk, said, adding that Russian forces, which use drones for aerial reconnaissance, quickly adjusted their calls. attack in response to changes of defense.
Gaidai said in an online post on Sunday that the Azot chemical plant, where hundreds of people had been sheltering, was attacked twice.
In Sievierodonetsk’s twin city of Lysychansk across the river, the bodies of two civilians were found, he said, adding, “The destruction of homes in the city is increasing like an avalanche.”
The Ukrainian military admits that “the enemy has partially succeeded in the village of Metolkine”, just southeast of Sievierodonetsk.
Severodonetsk is a prime target in the Kremlin’s pursuit of full control of Luhansk.
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Russian state news agency TASS reported that many Ukrainian warplanes had surrendered in Metolkine, citing a source working for the Russian-backed separatists.
Russian missiles hit a gas station in the northwestern district of Izyum, and Russian rockets rained on the outskirts of Kharkiv, the second largest city, hitting a city building, causing a fire. fire, but there were no casualties, Ukrainian authorities said.
It reported shelling further west in Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk, saying on Saturday that three Russian missiles had destroyed a fuel depot in the town of Novomoskovsk, injuring 11 people.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of Donetsk, another province in Donbas, said one civilian was killed and 11 wounded in Saturday’s shelling.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that Russian troops on a reconnaissance mission near the town of Krasnopillya were hit back with heavy casualties on Saturday.
Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield accounts.
Two top commanders of the fighter jets protecting the Azovstal steel plant southeast of the port of Mariupol have been turned over to Russia for investigation, TASS said.
Zelenskiy challenge
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whose defiant spirit has inspired people and earned respect around the globe, said he had visited soldiers on the southern front lines in the Mykolaiv region, about 100 miles from Kyiv. 550 kilometers (340 miles) to the south.
“I spoke to our defenders – the army, the police, the National Guard,” he said in a video on the messaging app Telegram on Sunday that appeared to be recorded on a train. moving.
“Their mood was assured: all of them did not doubt our victory,” said Zelenskiy. “We will not give the south to anyone, and all that is ours we will take back.”
Zelenskyy, whose defiance in the face of Russian onslaught has earned global respect, has said that “all that is ours we will take back.”
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Another video shows Zelenskiy in his trademark khaki t-shirt handing out medals and taking selfies with servicemen.
Zelenskiy has mostly stayed in Kyiv since the Russian invasion, although in recent weeks he has made unannounced visits to Kharkiv and two eastern cities near the battles.
One of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stated goals in sending troops into Ukraine is to prevent the eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Union and keep Moscow’s southern neighbor out of range. Western influence.
But the war, which has killed thousands, ruined cities and displaced millions, has had the opposite effect – convincing Finland and Sweden to seek membership in NATO – and helped pave the way. for Ukraine to become an EU member.
