May 25, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has said that Russian forces are "conducting an intense offensive" in order to seize the key town of Lyman in the Donetsk region.

Ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said Russian efforts to "completely take control" of Lyman "did not succeed." However, images posted on social media Wednesday showed Russian soldiers at identifiable locations in northern neighborhoods of the town, which Ukrainian forces have defended in the face of an intense assault since late April.

Lyman is an important rail hub, and if the Russians are able to consolidate control over the town, the nearby city of Sloviansk becomes more vulnerable to attack by artillery — and Ukrainian troops to the south-east of Lyman become more at risk of encirclement.

Motuzyanyk added, "The enemy is conducting offensive operations, trying to surround our units near Lysychansk and Severodonetsk and reach the administrative border of Luhansk region."

On Tuesday, the head of the regional administration in Donetsk, Pavlo Kyrylenko, described the situation in Lyman as "very difficult."

The Institute for the Study of War reported in its latest assessment Tuesday that Russian forces continued to "prioritize attacks against Lyman rather than Slovyansk on May 24, likely to support a shallow encirclement of Ukrainian troops northwest of Severodonetsk."

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson has said her country "does not send money to terrorist organizations," responding to claims from Turkey as the Nordic nation seeks to join NATO. 

Speaking during a news conference in Stockholm on Wednesday, Andersson said dialogue between Turkey and Sweden was "ongoing" as part of efforts to counter Turkish concerns about Sweden joining the military alliance.  

Earlier this month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would "say no to Sweden's and Finland's entry into NATO," accusing both countries of housing Kurdish "terror organizations." 

On Wednesday, Andersson said during discussions that the Turkish and Swedish sides "will naturally go through and discuss the list and sort out a number of things that have been unclear in reporting in the media and statements from other places."

European Council chief Charles Michel, who addressed journalists alongside Andersson, said although he didn’t “want to make any statement” that would make things more difficult, he did want to express the EU’s support for the “important step” Sweden and Finland have decided to take in applying for NATO membership. 

European Council chief Charles Michel is "confident" that any issues over a proposed ban on Russian oil imports will be resolved by the next council meeting on May 30. 

Addressing a news conference alongside the Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson in Stockholm on Wednesday, Michel said that although he was "still confident" that the bloc will be able to resolve any issues, it will require "a lot of dialogue." 

"We are working very hard in order to be able to stay united," Michel stressed. 

The Swedish prime minister publicly declared the country's desire "to go further" with sanctions against Russia. 

The proposed ban has been largely opposed by Hungary, which has said that such a measure would be "against Hungarian national energy security." 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on Wednesday making it easier for Ukrainians in the parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions occupied by Russian troops to obtain Russian citizenship. 

According to the decree published on a government portal, amendments will be made to an existing decree used to simplify the process for the residents of the breakaway Donetsk People's Republic or the Luhansk People's Republic. 

Russia handed out hundreds of thousands of Russian passports to residents of the DPR and LPR ahead of the massive Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, helping create one of the pretexts for a wider war.

The Ukrainian presidential administration on Wednesday reported "fierce battles" around the industrial city of Severodonetsk in the eastern Luhansk region, with a top military official saying shelling of the town had increased "exponentially." 

A statement on Wednesday from the presidential administration reported "fierce battles for Severodonetsk," with constant mortar shelling, adding, "In the morning, with the support of artillery, the Russian occupiers are advancing on Severodonetsk."

According to the statement, six civilians have died and eight were wounded in the region amid the stepped-up fighting. 

Serhiy Haidai, the head of the Luhansk region military administration, said the shelling of Severodonetsk had "increased exponentially" in recent hours. 

He added that "the next week is important; if they do not succeed by Saturday or Sunday, they will run out of steam, and the situation will at least stabilize for us."

Elsewhere in Ukraine, the Russian military acknowledged Wednesday that it had launched cruise missiles at targets in Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia. A statement by Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, the Russian defense ministry spokesperson, said the strikes on Zaporizhzhia had targeted production workshops of the Motor Sich plant, an aerospace facility. 

Ukrainian officials previously reported strikes in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk without giving extensive details on the facilities targeted. Officials in Zaporizhzhia subsequently posted video showing damage to a shopping mall. 

The World Economic Forum opens. Fighting rages in Ukraine's east. And a state of emergency is declared in Hungary.

Here's the latest on Russia's war in Ukraine:

The Ukrainian folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra, which recently won the Eurovision Song Contest, is auctioning off its trophy to raise funds for the Ukrainian army, the group announced on Instagram Wednesday. 

Oleh Psiuk, the group's frontman, also offered to sell his signature pink bucket hat.

The group recently announced it would tour Europe to raise funds for Ukraine and its armed forces. 

Kalush Orchestra won the competition on May 15 with the song "Stefania," written about the frontman's mother. The band beat competition from main rivals the United Kingdom and Spain.

The event marked the first major cultural event in which Ukrainians have taken part since Russia invaded in February, and many in the audience waved Ukraine's blue and yellow national flag during the evening.

Ahead of the final round, Kalush Orchestra were runaway favorites to win the campy, much-loved singing contest this year, in part because of all the obstacles it overcame due to the war.

The band was unveiled as the country's entry on February 22, two days before Russian troops invaded Ukraine.

Hungary’s reelected Prime Minister Viktor Orban will continue to rule by decree after a state of emergency was declared at midnight due to the fact that one of the country's neighbors -- Ukraine -- is in a state of war. 

The Hungarian government argues that “the government needs to be able to make decisions and act swiftly. The state of emergency, similarly to that introduced during the pandemic, will make it possible for the government to react quickly."

Orban said the decree was reinstated to use “all methods at its disposal” to protect Hungary and Hungarians.

The current state of emergency, which allows Orban to disable some laws and push through emergency measures by decree, was set to expire at the end of May. It had been introduced in the spring of 2020 at the start of the coronavirus-pandemic.

Orban and his Fidesz party were reelected in April despite his historically pro-Kremlin positions and close relationship with Putin. The war there upended the contest, which had been focused mostly on domestic issues before the invasion began on February 24.

Orban's relationship with Kyiv has deteriorated over the years. He has impeded the country's attempts to form closer relations with NATO, and has clashed with successive governments in Kyiv.

The Slovakian Prime Minister issued a stark warning about the future of his country should Russia defeat Ukraine during a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos Wednesday. 

Heger went on to criticize members of the European Union for relying too heavily on Russian energy. He urged leaders to “stop compromising” their principles when dealing with Russia.

Entry into the Union: Heger asked the bloc to work with Ukraine and the western Balkans to come up with "standardized rules so they can accede to the EU."

Ukraine has, in recent years, deepened its economic and political ties with the EU, and Kyiv has expressed a desire to join. Nations in the western Balkans have also sought accession for several years.

Joining the bloc usually takes several years, as nations must satisfy strict criteria for membership before engaging in negotiations.

However, some current EU leaders have rebuffed the idea that its membership could be fast-tracked due to the invasion.

“There’s no such thing as a fast-tracking of accession, such a thing doesn’t exist," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in March.