More than three months after the start of the war, Russia wants to tie the occupied parts of Ukraine closer to itself. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin yesterday signed a decree according to which residents of Ukraine’s Kherson and Zaporizhia regions can obtain Russian citizenship on easier terms.
For Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, however, ceding territory even in exchange for an end to the war is out of the question, as he made clear yesterday: “Ukraine will fight until it has all its territory back.”
Abolition of age limit in Russia
Meanwhile, the Russian Duma quickly passed a law abolishing the age limit for military service. Now all that is missing is the signature of President Putin. According to parliamentarians, the objective is to strengthen the Armed Forces.
Currently, only Russians aged between 18 and 40 and foreigners aged between 18 and 30 can fight in the Russian army. The Russian army has already suffered significant casualties during the war. It is unclear how tall they are. Putin visited wounded Russian soldiers in Ukraine for the first time today.
Russians surround Sievjerodonetsk
As for hostilities, Russian troops are making little headway in the east. Large parts of the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine are already under Russian control. Now, the city of Sievjerodonetsk, which used to have 100,000 inhabitants, is almost completely surrounded by Russian troops.
Only a small corridor is still under Ukrainian control. “The city is being destroyed 24 hours a day,” Luhansk region governor Serhiy Gajday told Ukrainian television.
Assistance to Ukraine in solving war crimes
The US, EU and Britain want to support Ukraine in solving war crimes. A joint initiative aims to help with coordination and communication and provide support to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office responsible for prosecuting war crimes, a joint statement said.
More about this and the day’s developments in the Ukraine war on the ORF.at live ticker