• Prior to an EU conference this week that is anticipated to support Kyiv’s application to join the grou
• the situation along the front line was “very difficult,” according to the governor of the Luhansk area
• Russian attacks would intensify ahead of the EU summit on Thursday and Friday

Prior to an EU conference this week that is anticipated to support Kyiv’s application to join the group, Ukraine admitted challenges in fighting in its east as Russian forces seized territory and increased pressure on two cities.

As of Monday evening, the situation along the front line was “very difficult,” according to the governor of the Luhansk area, the scene of the worst Russian assaults in recent weeks, and the Russian army had gathered enough reserves to launch a massive offensive.

Russian attacks would intensify ahead of the EU summit on Thursday and Friday, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. He was defiant and mentioned the “difficult” combat in Luhansk for Sievierodonetsk and its sister city Lysychansk in a speech to the nation on Monday night.

“We are defending Lysychansk, Sievierodonetsk, this whole area, the most difficult one. We have the most difficult fighting there,” he said. “But we have our strong guys and girls there.”

The majority of Sievierodonetsk, according to Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai, was under Russian control, with the exception of the Azot chemical facility, where hundreds of people have been taking refuge for weeks. He claimed that there was continuous shelling on the road leading from Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk, and Bakhmut.

“Lysychansk has been suffering from massive Russian shelling all day. It is impossible to establish the number of casualties,” Gaidai said.

Firefights were breaking out in several towns, according to Rodion Miroshnik, the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic’s ambassador to Russia, who said that its forces were “moving from the south towards Lysychansk.”

He stated on Telegram that “the hours to come should bring significant adjustments to the balance of forces in the area.”

It would be a victory for Kyiv if EU leaders decided to accept Ukraine as an official applicant for membership.

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