Russia and Ukraine live news: NATO Secretary General says Ukraine can win the war | war news between russia and ukraine

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that the Russian war in Ukraine will not go as Moscow planned while Russia is bombing its positions in eastern Ukraine.

• NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that Russia’s war in Ukraine will not go as planned by Moscow and calls for more military support.
• Russia bombs its positions in eastern Ukraine as it seeks to encircle Ukrainian forces in the Battle of Donbass.
• Finland announced its intention to seek NATO membership, hours before the Swedish ruling party backed a plan to join the transatlantic alliance.

Here are the latest updates:

20 seconds ago (22:22 GMT)

Ukraine still owns 10 percent of Luhansk: Governor

The Ukrainian army continues to control a tenth of the eastern Luhansk region despite being subjected to violent Russian attacks, according to its governor.

Governor Serhiy Gaidai said on Sunday that the Russians had not yet been able to control the outskirts of the cities of Robyzhny, Sferodontsk, and Lyschansk.

Moscow announced last week that pro-Russian separatists had advanced to the administrative border of Luhansk with the help of the Russian army. Gayday said the allegations were “fanciful.”

2 hours ago (20:51 GMT)

Ukraine says Russia is trying to encircle its forces in Donbass

Russia is bombing sites in eastern Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said, as it seeks to encircle Ukrainian forces in the Battle of Donbass and repel a counterattack around the strategic Russian-controlled city of Izyum.

Russia said it bombed Ukrainian sites in the east with missiles, targeting command centers and arsenals, while its forces sought to besiege Ukrainian units between Izyum and Donetsk.

Ukraine’s Joint Task Force said its forces repelled 17 attacks and destroyed 11 pieces of Russian equipment, while its air defenses shot down two Russian helicopters and five drones.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the situation in Donbas is still very difficult and that Russian forces are still trying to salvage some kind of victory in a region riven by conflict since 2014. “They are not stopping their efforts,” he said.

2 hours ago (20:47 GMT)

NATO chief says Ukraine can win the war, calls for military support

At a meeting in Germany, the head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said Ukraine could win the war, calling for more military support and quick approval of bids expected from Finland and Sweden to join the alliance.

“The Russian war in Ukraine will not go as planned by Moscow,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

A British Military Intelligence assessment concluded that Russia lost about a third of its deployed ground combat force in February. The assessment said its offensive in Donbass was “significantly behind schedule” and unlikely to make rapid progress over the next 30 days.

Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s ongoing coverage of the war in Ukraine.

Read all updates from Sunday 15 May here.