Ukraine became a candidate to join the European Union on Thursday, a brave geopolitical step triggered by the Russian invasion of Kyiv and Brussels praised as a “historical moment”.
Starting a long road to the EU membership will be a big encouragement for the morals in the country being fought, because Russian attacks in two cities in the East Donbas region move towards the “frightening climax”, according to the advisor of the Ukraine government.
The future of Ukraine is in the EU,” wrote President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Twitter after an official announcement.
Approval of the Kyiv government application by the meeting of the European Union leaders in Brussels will make Russia’s angry because they struggle to force their will on Ukraine. Moldova also became an official candidate on Thursday, signifying the intention of the block to reach far to the former Soviet Union.
Friday will mark four months since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops across the border in what he called the “special military operation” which was partly triggered by Western encroachment into what Russia considered to consider the scope of its influence.
Conflict, which is seen by the west as an aggression war that cannot be justified by Russia, has killed thousands of people, evacuated millions of people, and destroyed cities, while reducing food and energy exports have affected countries throughout the world.
Russia has focused its campaign in South and East Ukraine after its progress in the capital in the early stages of conflict was thwarted by Ukraine resistance.
Friction War in Donbas – The heart of the Ukraine industry – The most important in the twin cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, who sat on the edge of the Siverskyi Donets river in Luhanansk Province.
The battle there is “entering a kind of frightening climax”, said Oleksiy Aestovych, an adviser Zelenskiy.
Hot summer
Russian troops tried to surround Ukrainian troops who defended Lysychansk, a senior Ukrainian defense official Oleksiy Gromov said in a briefing on Thursday.
Luhanansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said separately that all Lysychansk was within the reach of Russian fires and that Ukraine forces there might have resigned to a new position to avoid being trapped.
The separatist troops supported by Russia said there was a fierce battle that was taking place around the position of Ukraine in Hirske, which is located on the west side of the north-south road to Lysychansk, and Zolote, another settlement in the south.
Ukrainian troops defended Sievierodonetsk and Zolote nearby and Vovchoyrovka, said Gaidai, but Russian troops had captured Loskutivka and Rai-Oceksandrivka in the South. Hundreds of civilians were trapped in a chemical factory in Sievierodonetsk.
In the South Front, Russian troops hit the Ukrainian Army fuel tank and military equipment near Mykolaiv with high precision weapons, the Russian Ministry of Defense said, quoted by the Interfax news agency.
The Center for River Builders and Ship Development Not far from the Black Sea, Mykolaiv has become a fortress against Russia’s efforts to push the West towards the main city of Ukraine in Odesa.
Zelenskiy urged the Ukraine allies to accelerate the delivery of heavy weapons to match Russia on the battlefield. “We must free our land and achieve victory, but faster, much faster,” he said in the address of the morning video on Thursday.
Then, the Minister of Defense Ukraine said Himars several rocket systems had arrived from the United States. With a range of 70 km (44 miles), the system can challenge Russian artillery batteries that have beat Ukraine cities from afar.
The United States will provide additional $ 450 million security assistance to Ukraine, including a long -distance rocket system, US officials said on Thursday.
Shield for the European Union
Russia has long opposed a closer relationship between Ukraine, fellow former Soviet Republic, and Western grouping such as the European Union and NATO Military Alliance.
Diplomat said it would need a decade or more Ukraine to meet the criteria for joining the EU.
But European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said he was sure that Ukraine and Moldova would move as quickly as possible to apply the necessary reforms.
Their steps to join the European Union run with applications by Sweden and Finland to enter NATO after the Russian invasion – indications that the Kremlin military action has backfired for its geopolitical goals.
In Kyiv, where the mass protest of eight years ago overthrow the president after he violated the promise to develop relations closer to the European Union, the 22 -year -old Volodymyr Yanishan’s 22 -year -old soldier welcomed the status of the Ukraine candidate.
This means that people have almost achieved what we have fought for since 2014, in bloody battles that spend a lot of effort … I think the majority will be happy and that means change is better.”