05 Jul 2022: President Volodymyr Zelensky has pledged that Ukrainian forces will return to retake Lysychansk 'thanks to the increase in the supply of modern weapons'.
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| Ukraine War: President Volodymyr Zelensky has pledged |
Russian officials have said their forces are fighting for the "complete liberation" of the Donbas, which broadly refers to Ukraine's eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, where Russian-backed separatists held significant territory before the invasion.
Relations between the two countries became hostile after the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, which was followed by Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, and due to Russia's backing for the separatist fighters of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic in a war, conflicts that had killed.
As of today Russia continues to illegally occupy Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea (26 081 km²), the city of Sevastopol (864 km²), certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (16799 km²) — in total 43744 km² or 7,2% of the territory of Ukraine.
The status of Snake Island was important for delimitation of continental shelf and exclusive economic zones between Romania and Ukraine. If Snake Island were recognized as an island, then continental shelf around it should be considered as Ukrainian water.
Russia pushing forward
Over the weekend Russia captured the city of Lysychansk and now controls the whole Luhansk region.
Ukrainian forces confirmed that they had withdrawn from Lysychansk on Sunday.
Russia's latest advance follows the recent capture of the nearby town of Severodonetsk.
The territory mapped below by the Institute for the Study of War was accurate as of information from 3 July.