The day before the European Union leaders' meeting, the Russian army is likely to vote for the Ukrainian Union's candidacy, so Russian troops are the second largest city in Ukraine, Kharkiv and the east. Attacked the Donbus area.
The two-day summit of EU leaders will begin on Thursday in Brussels. Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister of the European and Euro Atlantic Integration, said the Associated Press could vote on Thursday.
Last week, the European Commission formally recommended the status of EU candidates for Ukraine and its small neighbor, Moldova. On Wednesday, Stefanicina said she was "100%" confident that Ukraine would be accepted as an EU candidate.
Candidate status is just the first step in joining a group of 27 members. Ukraine must meet political and economic conditions, such as standards for democratic principles.
Stefanicina told AP that Ukraine believes it could become an EU member state within a few years. Some European authorities have suggested that it could take decades.
"We are already very integrated into the European Union," she told AP. "It may take two to ten years because we want to be a strong and competitive member state."
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a nightly video speech on Wednesday. He talked with 11 European Union leaders about Ukraine's candidacy and said he would call further on Thursday. Earlier, he said he was optimistic about joining the EU and believed that all 27 EU countries would support Ukraine's candidate status.
Meanwhile, Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synehubov said the bombardment of Kharkiv's residential areas and other towns in the region continued unabated.
"There is no disappointment with the bombardment of civilians by Russian occupiers," he wrote in the Telegram messaging app. "This is evidence that we cannot expect the same scenario as Chernihiv and Kyiv that Russian troops will withdraw under pressure." Russian troops have said they are attacking Harkiu "for the purpose of terrorizing the population" and diverting troops to Ukraine, Reuters reported.
On Sunday, Zelensky warned that Russia could intensify its attacks this week prior to EU action.
"Obviously Russia expects to intensify hostile activity this week .... in preparation. Ready," he said.
Zelensky said on Wednesday about Russia's violent airstrikes and bombardment in eastern Donbus. ""
Ukrainian Ministry of Defense spokesman Oleksandr Motuzianyk told AP that in some battles Russian troops would fire at least six rounds of all shells fired by Ukrainian troops.
Microsoft also reported Wednesday, Russian intelligence has made multiple efforts to hack the computer networks of Ukrainian allies.
"The cyber aspects of the current war extend far beyond Ukraine and reflect the unique nature of cyberspace," said Microsoft President Brad Smith in thereport{80. }
According to the Reuters news agency mentioned at the Russian embassy, Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In the past, Moscow denied conducting foreign cyber-spy missions, saying it "contradictions to Russia's foreign policy principles."
Ukrainian entities have been attacked by Russian state-sponsored hacks since the conflict began four months ago, Microsoft reported. Researchers found that 128 organizations in 42 countries outside Ukraine were targeted by the same group in hacks focused on espionage.
Researchers have found that nearly two-thirds of cyber-spy targets are associated with NATO member states.
Some information in this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
