On Friday, the Russia-Ukraine war reached its fifth month. In a move to boost the war-torn country’s morale as Moscow’s assaults wear down the defenders of cities in the eastern Donbas region, Ukraine was officially accepted as a candidate for membership in the European Union.
According to news agency AP, the Russian military has control over roughly 95% of the Donbas region’s Luhansk province and nearly 50% of its neighbouring Donetsk province. The EU’s choice coincides with Vladimir Putin of Russia’s assertion, made on numerous occasions, that Western intrusion into what Russia views as its legitimate geographic sphere of influence was a contributing factor in the need for his “special military operation,” which was launched in Ukraine on February 24.
The Russian soldiers have also been engaging in house-to-house combat with the Ukrainian army while for weeks now bombing the city of Sievierodonetsk with artillery and airstrikes. A persistent Russian artillery assault is also being fired upon Lysychansk, which is situated on a steep river bank and faces Sievierodonetsk. According to the Lysychansk governor, “at least one civilian killed and three others were injured on Wednesday owing to Russian bombardment.”
