Donbas is facing the hardest “attacks since the start of the war

Russian forces have continued to bombard the eastern region of Donbas, while Ukrainian officials have said that the entire situation on the front of the war is “extremely difficult”, and Ukrainian President Volodyr Zelensky has warned that Moscow is a very nervous “for the decision the European Council will make about ensuring or not candidate status for Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces have continued to protect Lisicansk and Severodonjeck, where the worst fighting is under way, Luhansk military governor Serhiy Hayday has said.

Hayday has said on national television that Russian military forces control most of SeverodonJeck, but not even the nitrogen chemical factory, where hundreds of civilians are being sheltered for weeks now.

He has said that the road linking Severodonjeck and Lisicansk to the town of Bahmut is under constant shelling.

“Lusicanscu has faced massive Russian bombings all day. It is impossible to understand the number of victims”, he said, adding that the bombings may have been more severe in this city ever.

However, the Russian Army has failed to surround all Ukrainian soldiers, who are causing the “major losses”, he has said.

As Russia concentrates on fighting in Donbas, advanced weapons systems produced in the West, granted donations to Ukraine, British intelligence in its latest update on 21 June, has begun to be noted on the front of the war, British intelligence said.

Ukrainian forces have reported successful use of the Harpoon anti-ship missiles, the British Defence Ministry said.

“The target of the attack was almost certainly the Russian ship Spasaltel Vasily Beckh, who has sent weapons and personnel to the Desert Island northwest of the Black Sea”, has said British intelligence, adding that Ukraine has obviously neutralised Russia's capacity to maintain control of the northwest Black Sea region.

At Ukraine's largest port, Odessa, which is blocked by the Russian Navy, a Russian missile has destroyed a food store on June 20th, the Ukrainian Army has said.

Moscow's Crime Region leader Sergey Aksyonov has said on June 20th that three people are injured and seven others are missing, as Ukrainian forces have attacked oil drilling platforms on the Crimea coast.

This information has not been independently verified.

Zelensky, meanwhile, has predicted that Moscow will step up the attacks before holding the European Union summit this week.

“Step by step we are moving towards a critical week and we are doing everything we can so that no one can suspect that Ukraine deserves” candidate status for EU membership, he has said.

We are testifying every day that we are part of a unified Europe”.

Ukraine has applied for EU membership, following the launch of the Russian occupation on 24 February.

Moldova and Georgia have acted the same way several days later because of the regional threat Russia's war in Ukraine poses.

Leaders of the 27 EU member states will review the three apps at a summit to be held on June 23rd and 24th.

Zelensky has said that Russia “is very nervous about our activity” and has again bombed big cities like Harkiv and Odessa on June 20th, as well as continued offensive in the Donbas region.

This is a bad thing that can only be defeated at the front of war”, Zelensky said.

“The experts are getting answers to our actions against us”.

The Kremlin has said that two Americans arrested in Ukraine this month while fighting for Ukrainian forces have been mercenaries not covered by the Geneva Convention.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov's comments, for the first time, confirm reports that two American men identified as Andy Huynh, 27, and and Alexander Drake, 39 years old, have been on hold.

Peskov said both should be held accountable for their “crimes”.

Western governments have said that men have been caught fighting for Ukrainian military forces, so they should be treated as prisoners of war, according to the Geneva Convention.

This same month, two Britons and a Moroccan have been sentenced to death by a separatist court, after which they have been caught fighting for Ukraine. / REL/