Ukraine war: Five things you need to know about the conflict on Friday
The European Union's decision to make Ukraine a candidate for EU membership offered war-weary Ukrainians a morale boost and hope of a more secure future Friday as the country's military ordered its fighters to retreat from a key city in the eastern Donbas region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the decision of EU leaders as a vindication of his nation's four-month fight against Russia's aggression and said he was determined to ensure Ukraine retained the ability to decide if it belonged in Europe or under Moscow's influence.
“This war began just when Ukraine declared its right to freedom. To its choice of its future. We saw it in the European Union," Zelenskyy told the nation in a televised address late Thursday. “That is why this decision of the EU is so important, motivates us and shows all this is needed not only by us."
Ukraine applied for membership less than a week after Russia invaded the country and must undergo a complicated process that could take a long time to be eligible to join the 27-nation bloc.
The EU also granted candidate status to the small nation of Moldova, another former Soviet republic that borders Ukraine and also has territory controlled by pro-Russia separatists.
Ukrainian forces will retreat from a besieged city in the country's east to avoid encirclement, a regional governor said Friday, after weeks of ferocious fighting over control of the city.
Sievierodonetsk, the administrative centre of the Luhansk region, has faced relentless Russian bombardment in recent weeks. At one stage, Ukrainian troops fought Russians in house-to-house battles, before retreating to a huge chemical factory on the city's edge.
In recent days Russian forces have made gains around Sievierodonetsk and the
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