June 23, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

By Helen Regan, Hafsa Khalil, Jeevan Ravindran, Aditi Sangal, Ed Upright and Adrienne Vogt, CNN

Updated 2:43 a.m. ET, June 24, 2022

What we covered

European Union leaders have agreed to grant Ukraine and Moldova candidate status for EU membership.
Russian forces have taken two more settlements near the strategic city of Lysychansk in their offensive to capture the remainder of the eastern Luhansk region, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine's forces control about 45% of the eastern Donetsk region, a regional military chief said, adding that more than a hundred cities and villages there had no gas or electricity.
President Vladimir Putin said Russia is rerouting trade to "reliable international partners" such as Brazil, India, China and South Africa as the West attempts to sever economic ties, during his video address to the virtual BRICS Summit.
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2:17 a.m. ET, June 23, 2022

Area outside US Embassy in Moscow renamed to "Donetsk People's Republic Square"

From CNN’s Uliana Pavlova

A utility worker during installation of an address sign on the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) square near the US Embassy in Moscow, Russia, on June 22 (Andrey Bresonov/Kommersant/Sipa USA/AP)

Moscow has renamed the area outside the US Embassy after the pro-Russian breakaway republic in eastern Ukraine.

The new address has been changed to "Donetsk People’s Republic Square," the Moscow City Hall office announced on Wednesday.

“The US Embassy in Russia has received a new official address,” the statement said. “Now the diplomatic mission is located at the following address: Russian Federation, city of Moscow, intracity territory of the Presnensky municipal district, square of the Donetsk People's Republic, building 1, buildings 1–9.”

The new address was chosen following the results of a public vote with nearly 280,000 participants, according to the City Hall.

In May, Moscow councilors proposed to rename one of Moscow’s streets in honor of the “defenders of Donbas.”

The embassy’s previous address was 8 Bolshoi Devyatinsky Lane.

8:34 p.m. ET, June 22, 2022

Ukraine says city of Mykolaiv struck with 7 missiles

From CNN's Olga Voitovych in Kyiv

The city of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine was struck by seven missiles on Wednesday, the head of the regional military administration, Vitaly Kim, said on his Telegram channel.

Kim was inspecting local harvests when the alleged attack occurred.

“I have interrupted the inspection in the district. I return to the city. The city was hit with seven missiles,” he wrote.

One person was killed and two were injured as missiles struck, the city’s mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych said Wednesday.

“As of now we know about two private enterprises affected. Some fuel and lubricant materials were on the premises of these enterprises,” Sienkevych said. “Due to the missile hit into one of the enterprises the fuel and lubricant materials set on fire and now the whole city is covered with the black smoke. The firefighters are working on spot.”

According to the mayor, a school and a five-story building were also affected by the blasts and have had their windows shattered. The school also suffered damaged to the roof.

“We also received the information about four private houses which were damaged,” he added.

Russian authorities and Russian media did not immediately report on the incident and CNN could not independently verify Kim’s claim that seven missiles had struck the city.

Mykolaiv was the site of a fierce battle in the early weeks of Russia's invasion, but it was successfully defended by Ukrainian forces.