Severodonetsk bends, a long process of joining the EU… The conflict in four infographics

The Russian army continues its offensive on Ukraine. Moscow is now concentrating its forces in the east and south of the country and the key cities of Severodonetsk and Lysytchansk are almost in the hands of the Kremlin. 20 Minutes provides an update on the war in Ukraine in four infographics.

The Russians advance in the Donbass

After weeks of devastating fighting, Ukrainian forces were ordered on Friday to withdraw from the eastern city of Severodonetsk, a crucial step for the Russians who want to conquer the entire industrial basin of Donbass. “It no longer makes sense to stay in positions that have been constantly bombarded for months”, and while the city has been “almost reduced to ruins” by the continuous bombardments, explained Serguiï Gaïdaï, the governor of Lugansk.

This major military setback, both strategically and symbolically, adds to other setbacks by Ukrainian forces in the region, where Russian troops are eating away at ground every day. Mykolaivka, a town about 20 kilometers south-west of Lysytchansk, is “lost” and in the hands of the Russian army, Serguiï Gaïdaï indicated, adding that the Russians were now trying to “conquer Girské”, a neighboring town of 10,000 inhabitants before the war.

Ukraine in the race for the EU

This is the essential – even historical – information of the week. The European Union, meeting at a summit in Brussels, endorsed Ukraine’s candidacy on Thursday, a highly symbolic step, nearly four months after the invasion launched by the Russian army. The EU summit, devoted to granting candidate status to Ukraine and its neighbor Moldova, “is a historic moment in geopolitical terms”, judged the President of the European Council Charles Michel before the meeting. .

“This is a unique and historic moment in Ukraine – European Union relations”, welcomed Volodymyr Zelensky on Twitter, saying that, in his opinion, “the future of Ukraine lies within the EU” . Granting Ukraine the status of candidate for membership of the European Union, “this is the starting point of a new story for Europe”, added the Ukrainian President. However, the road remains long for kyiv.

American rocket launchers as a present

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov announced on Thursday the arrival of US Himars rocket launchers in Ukraine, powerful weapons requested from the allies to deal with the Russian invasion. “The summer will be hot for the Russian occupiers. And the last for some of them,” he threatened, without specifying how many Himars had been delivered by the Americans.

The United States announced at the beginning of June that they were going to supply Ukraine with Himars systems – for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System – with a range of 80 kilometers. They are therefore not very long-range systems, of several hundred kilometers, as the American army also has, but they remain powerful and high-precision weapons, with a range greater than those of the Russian army.

The invasion destroys the breadbasket of the world

Ministers from 40 countries are trying this Friday to find, at a conference in Berlin, concrete “solutions” to the food crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. Entitled “Unite for global food security”, this conference, in which the American Secretary of State Antony Blinken participates, is held before the summit of the G7 leaders, organized in Bavaria from Sunday.

The conference aims, on Friday afternoon, to “propose solutions” such as the acceleration of food exports from Ukraine by alternative routes to the Black Sea. The Russian invasion, including the blockade of Black Sea ports, is driving up food prices and contributing to the global spike in inflation. Moscow uses hunger “deliberately as a weapon of war” and takes “the whole world hostage”, denounce the Westerners.