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NATO’s top commander warned that the war in Ukraine could last “for years,” as President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed on Sunday that his forces would not cede control of the country’s south to Russia after visiting the frontline.
Ukraine said it had also repulsed new Russian attacks on the eastern front, which has been rocked by weeks of fierce battles as Moscow attempts to seize the industrial Donbas region.
While Ukraine remained defiant, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged Western countries to be prepared to provide long-term military, political, and economic support to Kyiv in the event of a protracted conflict.
“We must be prepared for this to last for years,” Stoltenberg told German daily newspaper Bild.
“We must not weaken in our support of Ukraine, even if the costs are high — not only in terms of military support but also because of rising energy and food prices.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued a similar warning, urging sustained support for Kyiv or risk “the greatest victory for aggression” since World War II.
“Time is now the vital factor,” Johnson wrote in an article for the Sunday Times after making his second visit to Kyiv, calling for the West to ensure Ukraine has the “strategic endurance to survive and eventually prevail”.
Since the February 24 invasion, Ukraine has repeatedly urged Western countries to increase their arms deliveries, despite Russian warnings that it could spark a wider conflict.
For the first time since the Russian invasion, Zelensky made a rare trip outside of Kyiv on Saturday, visiting troops in Mykolaiv and the neighboring Odessa region.
“We will not give away the south to anyone, we will return everything that’s ours and the sea will be Ukrainian and safe,” he said in a video posted on Telegram as he made his way back to Kyiv.
He said he talked with troops and police during his visit.
“Their mood is confident, and looking into their eyes it is obvious that they all do not doubt our victory,” he said.
But Zelensky admitted that losses were “significant”, adding: “Many houses were destroyed, civilian logistics were disrupted, there are many social issues.”
Russia said on Sunday it launched missile strikes during the past 24 hours, including some targeting western-delivered weapons in Mykolaiv.
The strikes on a building in the city destroyed “ten 155 mm howitzers and around 20 armoured vehicles supplied by the West to the Kyiv regime over the last ten days”, the Russian defence ministry said.
There was no independent verification of the claims.
Mykolaiv is an important target for Russia because it is located on the way to the strategic port of Odessa.
With Russia maintaining a blockade of Odessa, which has trapped grain supplies and threatens a global food crisis, residents of Odessa have shifted their focus to rallying the home front effort.
“Every day, including the weekend, I come to make camouflage netting for the army,” said Natalia Pinchenkova, 49, behind a large Union flag, a show of thanks to Britain for its support for Ukraine.
The Ukraine conflict is causing not only a global food crisis, but also an energy crisis.
Germany announced emergency measures on Sunday, including increased coal use, to ensure it meets its energy needs following a drop in Russian gas supply.
As a result of the harsh sanctions, Moscow has increased the pressure on European economies by drastically reducing gas supplies, driving up energy prices.
Meanwhile, Eni, an Italian company, has joined a massive Qatari project to expand production from the world’s largest natural gas field, just days after Russia cut supplies to Italy.
Back in Kyiv, thousands gathered to pay tribute to a single young man, Roman Ratushny, a prominent figure in Ukraine’s pro-European Maidan movement who was killed fighting Russians in the country’s east earlier this month at the age of 24.
People of all ages paid their respects in front of the coffin draped in a yellow and blue Ukrainian flag at the foot of a monument overlooking the sprawling Independence Square in the capital.
As the bloodshed continues, the loss gave a human face to Ukrainians’ shared grief.
The worst fighting is still taking place in the eastern industrial Donbas region, with battles raging in villages outside Severodonetsk, which Russia has been attempting to seize for weeks.
Source:GTV
