The war in Ukraine has been going on for four months and its end is not yet in sight. Kiev's forces are trying to halt the Russian advance in the east who, despite heavy losses and difficulties, are managing to take control of important territories.
Ukraine makes no secret of its fear that the conflict has become "normalized" in the minds of the West or even that it has begun to "tire", resulting in a decrease in support for the country which is facing heavy losses while its coffers are empty.
Zelensky may be trying to boost morale by congratulating the Ukrainian forces holding out in the east as they managed to hold back the Russian advance in the Donbass region, but Russia, however, appears close to capturing the devastated Donbass city of Sievorodonetsk after a failed counter-attack by Ukrainian forces.
The points Russia is winning
After weeks of silence on casualties, key advisers to Ukraine's president admitted last week that 150 are killed in fighting every day and 800 are wounded.
This picture is confirmed today by a senior US official quoted by the Washington Post who says Russia is likely to seize the entire Lugansk region of eastern Ukraine within weeks as Ukraine suffers heavy casualties and its ammunition supplies dwindle.
Ukrainian officials make no secret of their concern over declining Western media interest that could gradually lead to a gradual loss of Western support.
The fear reflects the growing "normalization" of the conflict, as large parts of the country feel distanced from the war in the eastern Donbass, while at the same time it is becoming clear that casualties are mounting and economic costs are skyrocketing. "It's a very real threat that people are getting psychologically tired," said Lesia Vasilenko, an opposition MP from the liberal Holos party.
International media coverage has dropped significantly in the past two months, she added, and "as that number drops further, there is a very high risk that support from the West will diminish."
Dependence on the West
Ukraine has become increasingly dependent on Western aid as the war continues, both in terms of arms and humanitarian support, and will need money from its international allies to help rebuild towns and villages destroyed by the Russians in the early phase of the fighting. Its coffers are empty.
Offering weapons remains at the top of Ukraine's list of demands. This week Kiev admitted it had exhausted its Soviet-style stockpiles. There is frustration with the pace of supply and criticism of President Volodymyr Zelensky's government for not devolving operational decision-making further up the chain.
Two military commanders, who asked not to be named, told the Observer that despite the president's international achievements, not enough had been done to address the army's post-Soviet bureaucracy and that supplies of some key equipment, such as encrypted battlefield radios, were inadequate.
Those closer to the president are relatively calmer about the decline in media interest - as long as Western politicians do not lose interest and unity among NATO allies remains relatively strong.
It was inevitable that Johnny Depp and Amber Hurd's trial would be of more interest
Alexei Aristovich, a senior military adviser in the president's office, said media fatigue was inevitable as the conflict continued. "It was inevitable that the trial of Johnny Depp and Amber Hurd garnered more views and likes than the war. People get tired, but we couldn't care less. You don't have to talk about us at all. Just give us the guns," he told the Observer.
Ukraine's military tactics appear to amount to hard fighting and high casualties to slow Russia's attempt to take over Sievorodonetsk and the rest of the Donbass region, while it hopes that weapons recently promised by the West, including multiple missile launchers from the US and UK, will allow its belligerent forces to regain territory lost to the invaders.
In the "background" dichotomy
Meanwhile, there is particular frustration with Germany for being slow to supply arms and France for seeming more willing to work with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The fear - and also the key pressure on the West - is that the slow delivery of arms is preventing Ukraine from winning. "If we had all the weapons the Germans were talking about, we would have driven the Russians out, Kherson would have been liberated," Aristovich said.
Vasilenko said she feared Russia might be able to "exhaust international attention to Ukraine" if a war of attrition continues and thus gradually "push the world into some kind of peace agreement" that would amount to a greater partition of the country .
Source: in.gr
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