What did EU candidate status mean on 23 June 2022?

What did it mean for Ukraine to be handed European Union candidate status while Russian forces pressed on in the east? On 23 June 2022, the European Union formally awarded official candidate status to both Ukraine and Moldova, opening the formal path towards accession for the two countries.

The decision came on a day when the war was still dominating events on the ground. The Governor of Luhansk Oblast, Serhiy Haidai, said that Russia was "just destroying" everything in Lysychansk. Pro-Russian separatists, for their part, said they were close to capturing both Lysychansk and Sieverodonetsk.

The front in Luhansk Oblast

The days before 23 June had already shown the pressure on the area. On 21 June, Haidai said Russian forces had captured the towns of Pidlisne and Myrna Dolyna, south of Lysychansk. He also confirmed reports that separatist forces had taken Toshkivka a day earlier.

Elsewhere, the toll on civilians continued. On 21 June, the Governor of Kharkiv Oblast, Oleh Synyehubov, reported that Russian shelling had killed 15 civilians in and near Kharkiv. On 22 June, seven Russian missiles struck Mykolaiv, killing at least one person and damaging a number of residential and commercial buildings, according to Mykolaiv governor Vitaliy Kim.

Strikes and counter-strikes

Ukraine was also reported to be hitting targets of its own. On 22 June, the Ukrainian military said it had inflicted significant losses on Russian forces with airstrikes on Snake Island in the Black Sea, destroying a Pantsir missile system, a radar station and numerous vehicles on the occupied island. The same day, Ukrainian Air Force drones struck an oil refinery in Novoshakhtinsk, Rostov Oblast, Russia, causing a large explosion and fire. Operations at the refinery were suspended, and footage on social media appeared to show at least one armed drone hitting the facility.

Accountability and pressure on Russia's neighbours

23 June also brought a legal milestone. The first trial for rape during the war was set to begin in absentia against a 32-year-old Russian soldier accused of murdering a civilian and repeatedly raping his wife during the offensive in Kyiv. A day earlier, Reporters Without Borders released a report claiming that a Ukrainian photojournalist had been summarily executed by Russian soldiers while lying injured on the ground in the early stages of the conflict.

Tensions with Russia's neighbours were also visible. On 21 June, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev warned Lithuania that its citizens would "feel pain" over the ban on transit of Russian goods to Kaliningrad, saying Russia's response in the near future could seriously and negatively affect the population of Lithuania. Estonia reported that a Russian Border Service Mi-8 helicopter had violated its airspace over the weekend, and summoned the Russian ambassador in response. Also on 21 June, Russia blocked access to The Daily Telegraph's website on the orders of the Prosecutor-General, accusing the newspaper of disseminating false information about the war.

A day of contrasts

Set against this, the EU decision on 23 June stood out: a formal political step for Ukraine and Moldova on the same day that Lysychansk was described as being destroyed and separatists claimed they were closing in on two key cities.