- NATO’s Stoltenberg says the war could last for years
- Allies must show that they will support Ukraine in the long run – Johnson
- Ukraine admits the setback to the village near Sievierodonetsk
- “Everything that is ours we will recover” -Zelensky
- Two Azovstal defense commanders moved to Russia for the -TASS probe
Kyiv, June 19 (Reuters) – War in Ukraine could last for years, NATO chief said on Sunday as Russia intensified its attacks after the European Union recommended that Kyiv become a candidate to join. on the blog.
Jens Stoltenberg said the supply of state-of-the-art weapons to Ukrainian troops would increase the chances of freeing his eastern Donbas region from Russian control, German newspaper Bild am Sonntag said. Read more
“We have to prepare for the fact that it could take years. We must not stop supporting Ukraine,” said Stoltenberg, the secretary general of the military alliance.
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“Even if the costs are high, not only because of military support, but also because of rising energy and food prices.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who visited Kyiv on Friday, also spoke of the need to prepare for a long war.
This meant making sure that “Ukraine receives weapons, equipment, ammunition and training faster than the invader,” Johnson wrote in an opinion piece in the Sunday Times of London.
“Time is the vital factor,” he wrote. “It will all depend on whether Ukraine can strengthen its ability to defend its soil more quickly than Russia can renew its ability to attack.”
Ukraine received a significant boost on Friday when the European Commission recommended it for candidate status, a decision that EU nations are expected to approve at a summit this week. Read more
This would put Ukraine on the right track to realizing an aspiration that was considered out of reach before the Russian invasion on February 24, even though accession could take years.
INTENSIFIED ATTACKS
Russian attacks intensified on the battlefields of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military says the industrial city of Sievierodonetsk, a major target of Moscow’s offensive to take full control of Luhansk, one of the two provinces that make up the Donbas, has once again faced artillery. heavy and rocket fire.
“The situation in Sievierodonetsk is very difficult,” said Serhiy Gaidai, Ukraine’s designated governor of Luhansk, adding that Russian forces, using drones for air reconnaissance, were adjusting their attacks quickly in response to changes in defense.
“Areas near the bridges have once again been heavily bombed,” Gaidai said in an online post on Sunday, adding that the Azot chemical plant, where hundreds of people had taken refuge, had been hit twice.
“The struggle continues for full control of the city,” the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff said on Sunday in a daily update.
Analysts at the Washington Institute for War Study wrote that “Russian forces will probably be able to seize Sievierodonetsk in the coming weeks, but at the expense of concentrating most of their available forces in this small area “.
In the twin city of Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk, on the other side of the river, the bodies of two civilians had been found, Gaidai said, adding: “Destruction of homes in the city is increasing like an avalanche.”
The Ukrainian army acknowledged that “the enemy has a partial success in the village of Metolkine” in southeastern Sievierodonetsk.
Russia’s state news agency TASS said many Ukrainian fighters had surrendered to Metolkine, citing a source who worked for Russia-backed separatists.
Russian missiles hit a gas plant in the northwestern Izyum district, and Russian rockets raining on a suburb of Kharkiv, the second largest city, hit a municipal building and set it on fire. , but no casualties, Ukrainian authorities said.
Further western bombings in Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk were reported, with three Russian missiles destroying a fuel storage depot in the city of Novomoskovsk on Saturday and injuring 11 people. Read more
Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of Donetsk, another Donbas province, said a civilian was killed and 11 were injured in bombings on Saturday.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff said Russian troops on a reconnaissance mission near the town of Krasnopillya had been repulsed with numerous casualties on Saturday.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm battlefield accounts.
Two top commanders of fighters defending the Azovstal steel plant in the southeastern port of Mariupol have been transferred to Russia to investigate, TASS said. Read more
ZELENSKIY CHALLENGE
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose challenge has inspired his people and gained worldwide respect, said he had visited soldiers on the southern front in the Mykolaiv region, about 550 km (340 miles) south of Kyiv.
“I spoke to our defenders: the military, the police, the National Guard,” he said Sunday in a video on the Telegram messaging app that appeared to have been recorded on a moving train.
“His mood is assured: not everyone doubts our victory,” Zelenskiy said. “We will not give the south to anyone, and we will recover everything that is ours.”
Another video showed Zelenskiy in his khaki T-shirt, handing out medals and posing for selfies with the military. Read more
Zelensky has remained mostly in Kyiv since Russia invaded, although in recent weeks he has made unannounced visits to Kharkiv and two eastern cities near battles. Read more
One of the stated goals of Russian President Vladimir Putin in ordering troops in Ukraine was to halt the eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance and keep Moscow’s southern neighbor out of the sphere. influence of the West.
But the war, which has killed thousands, reduced cities to rubble, and made millions flee, has had the opposite effect – convincing Finland and Sweden to try to join NATO – and helping to pave the way for to Ukraine’s candidacy for the EU.
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Reuters office reports; Written by David Brunnstrom and Clarence Fernandez; Editing by Grant McCool and William Mallard
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