Russian troops advance further west at the easternmost tip of the Free Ukrainian Territory.

There was fighting for two neighboring cities, each with about 100,000 inhabitants, Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.

They are both located in the west of the Luhansk region.

Governor Serhiy Hajdaj, appointed by Kyiv, said on television on Friday that Ukrainian troops should withdraw from Severodonetsk.

"There is no point in staying in positions that have been shattered over many months just to stay there."

Gerhard Gnauck

Political correspondent for Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania based in Warsaw.

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Other sources quoted by the Ukrainska Pravda portal reported that Ukrainian units were under fire on Friday night, but withdrew from Severodonetsk in an orderly manner.

Thousands of civilians are said to remain in the city.

The head of the city administration wrote on Facebook on Friday: "I call on everyone to evacuate!

Don't be afraid of it and don't doubt."

The American institute ISW, one of the leading observers of the war, wrote in its latest daily report that the Russian troops have made significant gains in the area in the last few days, and the Ukrainians have continued to suffer heavy losses.

The Ukrainians are apparently preparing for the loss of both towns in the tip;

but this "will not represent a major turning point in this war".

The Russians also advanced further south in the Donbass.

After all, the Ukrainians managed to hold off the Russians for weeks and damage their troops.

The institute expects that "Russian offensive operations are likely to come to a standstill in the coming weeks."

On Friday, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the United States and the EU for their support.

The US earlier announced a new $450 million aid package that would include long-range missile launchers and patrol boats.

The EU promised the country candidate status for membership on Thursday.

Zelenskyj spoke of a turning point: "Ukraine is not a cushion between the West and Russia, no buffer between Europe and Asia, no sphere of influence, no gray area," said Zelenskyj.

Ukraine is a "future equal partner for at least 27 EU countries".

Kyiv wants to support Germany in moving away from Russian energy and offer to supply nuclear power.

Nuclear energy makes up "more than 50 percent of a central component of carbon-free energy production in Ukraine," wrote Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko in "Wirtschaftswoche".

Meanwhile, an international conference in Berlin was discussing ways out of the world hunger crisis, which had been dramatically aggravated by the war in Ukraine.

Russia is using hunger “deliberately as a weapon of war” and is making “the whole world hostage”, criticized Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) with regard to the blocked grain exports from Ukraine.

In the short term, alternative export routes are to be found and emergency aid for Africa increased.