Russia-Ukraine Crisis: Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an order on May 25th to fast track Russian citizenship for residents of parts of southern Ukraine largely held by his forces, while lawmakers in Moscow passed a bill to strengthen the stretched Russian army. Mr. Putin’s decree applying to the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions could allow Russia to strengthen its hold on territory that lies between eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has issued a bitter rebuke to the West for not doing enough to help Kyiv win the war, as the Russian army is engaged in an intense battle for Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland, known as the Donbas.
Russian forces shelled more than 40 towns in Ukraine‘s eastern Donbas region, Ukraine‘s military said, threatening to shut off the last main escape route for civilians trapped in the path of their invasion, now in its fourth month.
Oil prices rose on May 26th, extending a cautious rally this week on signs of tight supply while the European Union (EU) wrangles with Hungary over plans to ban imports from Russia, the world’s second-largest crude exporter, after it invaded Ukraine.