INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ukrainian forces will retreat from Severodonetsk in the face of a brutal Russian offensive that is reducing the battleground city to rubble,
a senior Ukrainian official said Friday.The news came shortly after the European Union made a strong show of support for Ukraine, granting
the former Soviet republic candidate status, although there is still a long path ahead to membership.Capturing Severodonetsk, in the Donbas
region, has become a key goal of the Russians as they focus their offensive on eastern Ukraine after being repelled from Kyiv following
infrastructure has been destroyed
the Russians control of Luhansk, and allow them to push further into the wider Donbas.Lysychansk under fireGaiday said the Russians were now
the road ahead, and heard artillery fire and saw flashes of light, while the road was strewn with trees felled by shelling.The situation for
those that remain in the city was increasingly bleak.Liliya Nesterenko said her house had no gas, water or electricity and she and her
mother were cooking on a campfire
believe in our Ukrainian army, they should [be able to] cope."They've prepared already."A representative of pro-Russian separatists in
Ukraine earlier told AFP the resistance of Ukrainian forces trying to defend Lysychansk and Severodonetsk was "pointless and futile.""At the
rate our soldiers are going, very soon the whole territory of the Luhansk People's Republic will be liberated," said Andrei Marochko, a
spokesman for the Moscow-backed army of Luhansk.With Ukraine pleading for accelerated weapon deliveries, the United States announced it was
missiles at an extended range.'Historic' EU decisionAt a Brussels summit Thursday, EU leaders granted candidate status to Ukraine, as well
as Moldova.Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the news as "a unique and historic moment," adding: "Ukraine's future is within the
EU."French President Emmanuel Macron said the decision by EU leaders sent a "very strong signal" to Russia that Europeans support the
pro-Western aspirations of Ukraine.President Vladimir Putin had declared Ukraine to be part of Moscow's sphere and insisted he was acting
due to attempts to bring the country into NATO, the Western alliance that comes with security guarantees.European powers before the invasion
had distanced themselves from U.S
support for Ukraine's NATO aspirations, and EU membership is at least years away.Ukraine and Moldova will have to go through protracted
negotiations and the European Union has laid out steps that Kyiv must take even before that, including bolstering the rule of law and
fighting corruption.Western officials have also accused Russia of weaponizing its key exports of gas as well as grain from Ukraine,
contributing to global inflation and rising hunger in the world.A U.S
official warned of new retaliatory measures against Russia at the Group of Seven summit being attended by President Joe Biden in Germany
starting Sunday.Germany ratcheted up an emergency gas plan to its second alert level, just one short of the maximum that could require
rationing in Europe's largest economy, after Russia slashed supplies."Gas is now a scarce commodity," German Economy Minister Robert Habeck
in the winter.A Kremlin spokesman reiterated its claim that the supply cuts were due to maintenance and that necessary equipment from abroad
