Russia-Ukraine Crisis: Ukraine is taking hundreds of casualties a day as the war has entered a brutal attritional phase in the east, as per reporters. The main battle in recent weeks has been over the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, where Ukrainian forces are holed up in a chemical factory with hundreds of civilians.
In the south, Ukraine says its forces have been making inroads into Kherson province, which Russia occupied early in its invasion. Meanwhile, the leaders of Germany, France and Italy, all criticised in the past by Kyiv for support viewed as too cautious, visited Ukraine on Thursday and offered the hope of EU membership to a country pleading for weapons to fend off Russia’s invasion.
In other news, the United States said it was aware of reports that a third US citizen is missing after travelling to Ukraine and it had not yet asked Russia about two Americans reportedly captured after going to the country to fight Russian forces. The US military has repeatedly denied US troops are deployed to Ukraine and told veterans there are better ways to help Ukraine than answering calls from Kyiv to fight there.