WAR IN UKRAINE: June 24, 2022
Happy trio: Council President Charles Michel, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and French President Emmanuel Macron moments after EU heads of state and govt took historic vote to grant candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 124
EU leaders met Thursday to discuss Ukraine's long-sought bid to join the bloc, even as tensions between Brussels and Moscow deepened over gas supplies and Russia closed in on key cities in the embattled Donbas region, reports AFP. “This is a decisive moment for the European Union... A choice must be made today that will determine the future of the union, our stability, our security and our prosperity," EU council president Charles Michel said. By about 16:00 ET the deal had been done: candidacy status had been granted to Ukraine and Moldova. All 21 leaders backed the motion.
Said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: “It’s a victory. Now, we will defeat the enemy, rebuild Ukraine, become an EU member state, and then – we will finally rest," Zelensky said in a brief video address. In a written statement, he added: "EU candidate status for Ukraine doesn't only benefit Ukraine. It's the biggest step to strengthen Europe that can be taken now, when Russia's war is testing our ability to stay free and united."
Ukraine ordered its troops to withdraw from their remaining foothold in the city of Severodonetsk to avoid encirclement, ending a battle that lasted nearly two months and giving Russia a small but symbolically important victory in the grinding war for control of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas area - WSJ
Despite massive weapons support from the West, Ukrainian troops on the frontline in eastern Ukraine say they’re being outgunned by Russian forces. Watch the CNN video
The Miami Police, as part of the Guns 4 Ukraine program, are reportedly trying to remove weapons from city streets and hand them over to Ukrainian soldiers. Americans who handed over weapons to law enforcement are not asked questions about its origin.
A Ukrainian goat has injured several Russian soldiers after triggering their own tripwire and setting off a series of grenades, the Daily Mail reported. But shortly after they laid the trap, an escaped goat from a nearby farm wandered towards the hospital and clipped the tripwire. Ukraine said the animal instigated a chain reaction, injuring multiple Russian troops. The fate of the goat is not known.
Russia's invasion causes over $6 billion worth of environmental damage. Russia's war in Ukraine has led to more than 250 cases of ecocide and more than 2,000 cases of environmental damage, according to Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Ruslan Strilets. "The war has created more than 200,000 tons of hazardous waste and scrap metal, while every destroyed house represents 50 cubic meters of destruction waste," he said - Kyiv Independent