“Units on both sides are committed to a fierce battle in Donbass and are likely to face volatile morale,” the Pentagon said in its daily assessment of the war. “Ukrainian forces have probably suffered casualties in recent weeks,” the assessment said, adding that “Russian morale is very likely to remain very problematic.” He said “there are still cases of entire Russian units refusing orders and armed clashes between officers and their troops.” Separately, Ukraine’s Central Intelligence Agency said it had intercepted phone calls in which Russian soldiers complained about front-line conditions, poor equipment and a general shortage of personnel, according to a report by the Institute for War Studies. In an interview published Sunday in the German weekly Bild am Sonntag, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said “no one knows” how long the war could last. “We have to be prepared for it to last for years,” he said. He also urged allies “not to weaken support for Ukraine, even if the cost is high, not only in terms of military aid but also because of rising energy and food prices.” In recent days, Gazprom, the Russian gas company, has cut supplies to two major European customers – Germany and Italy. In the case of Italy, energy officials are expected to discuss the situation this week. The head of the Italian energy giant ENI said on Saturday that with extra gas bought from other sources, Italy would have to spend next winter, but warned the Italians that “restrictions” that affect the use of natural gas may be necessary. Germany will reduce its use of gas to generate electricity amid concerns about possible shortages caused by cuts in supplies from Russia, the country’s economy minister said on Sunday. Germany is trying to fully fill its gas storage facilities in view of the cold winter months. Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Germany would try to offset the move by increasing the burning of coal, a more polluting fossil fuel. “This is bitter, but it is simply necessary in this situation to reduce the use of natural gas,” he said. Stoltenberg stressed, however, that “the cost of food and fuel is not comparable to what Ukrainians pay on the front lines every day.” Stoltenberg added: “Moreover, if Russian President Vladimir Putin achieves his goals in Ukraine, such as when he annexed Crimea in 2014,” we would have to pay an even higher price. “ The British Defense Ministry said that both Russia and Ukraine continued to carry out heavy artillery bombardment on axes north, east and south of the Sieverodonetsk enclave, but with a slight change in the front line. The governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Haidai, told the Telegram on Sunday: “It is a very difficult situation in Sievierodonetsk, where the enemy in the city center is conducting 24-hour aerial reconnaissance with drones, adjusting the fire, adapting quickly to our changes. ” The Russian Defense Ministry said Sunday that Russian and separatist forces had taken control of Metolkin, a settlement just east of Sivierodonetsk. Bakhmut, a town in Donbas, is located 55 kilometers (33 miles) southwest of the twin cities of Lysyhansk and Siervierodonetsk, where fierce military clashes are raging. Every day, Russian artillery hits Bakhmut. But the people of Bakhmut are trying to make a living, including shopping in markets that have reopened in recent weeks. “First of all, it can be calm in the morning,” said one resident, Oleg Drobelnnikov. “The bombing starts at about 7 or 8 in the evening.” However, he said, it has been quite calm for the last 10 days or so. “You can buy food in small agricultural markets,” said Drobelnikov, a teacher. “It’s not a problem. In principle, educational institutions, such as schools or kindergartens, do not work because of the situation. Institutions have been relocated. There is no work here.” Eastern Ukraine has been the focus of Russian attacks for more than two months. On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a trip south of Kyiv to visit soldiers and hospital staff in the Mykolaiv and Odessa regions along the Black Sea. He handed out prizes to dozens of people at each stop, shaking their hands and thanking them again and again for their service. Shortly after Zelensky left Mykolaiv, “the enemy caused fire damage to units of the Defense Forces with artillery and artillery fire in the settlements of Pravdyne, Posad-Pokrovskoe and Blahodatne,” according to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In other attacks in the south, Ukraine’s southern military administration said Sunday that two people had been killed in bombings in the Galitsyn district of Mykolaiv and that bombings in the Bashtansky district were continuing. The Russian Defense Ministry said that the missiles destroyed a factory in the city of Mykolaiv where ammunition and armored vehicles supplied by the West were stored. The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed concern “that a little fatigue in Ukraine is beginning to appear around the world” and urged support for Ukraine’s efforts to try to reverse the Russian invasion. “It would be a disaster if Putin won. He would like nothing more than to say, “Let’s freeze this conflict, let’s have a ceasefire,” Johnson said on Saturday, a day after a surprise visit to Kyiv, where he met with Zelensky and offered constant help and Military training. Heavy weapons supplied from the West are reaching the front lines. But Ukrainian leaders have insisted for weeks that they need more weapons and need them sooner. On Sunday, Pope Francis, despite mourning the accumulation of weapons, added his own admonition to those who may lose focus in Ukraine, which he said deserves to defend itself. “And let us not forget the martyred Ukrainian people right now,” Francis told the crowd in St. Peter’s Square. It made them wonder “What did I do today for the Ukrainian people?”
Sylvia Hui in London, Frank Jordans in Berlin, Frances D’Emilio in Rome and Srdjan Nedeljkovic in Bakhmut, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
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