Are session in Struts 2 and sessionScope in JSP EL the same?

public class LoginAction extends ActionSupport {
    private String username;
    private String password;
    
    @Override
    public String execute() throws Exception {
        ActionContext ctx = ActionContext.getContext();
        Integer counter = (Integer)ctx.getApplication().get("counter");
        // put counter into application 
        ctx.getApplication().put("counter", counter);
        // put username into session
        ctx.getSession().put("user", username);
        if (getUsername().equals("crazyit.org")
                && getPassword().equals("leegang")) {
            ctx.put("tip", "Login Success! ");
            return SUCCESS;
        }
        else {
            ctx.put("tip", "Login Falied!");
            return ERROR;
        }        
    }
}

I put counter in application, user in session, and tip in ActionContext. In JSP I can use ${session.user} and ${sessionScope.user} to reference the user property. ${request.tip} and ${requestScope.tip} to reference tip.

My questions:

1. Are session, request, application the same as sessionScope, requestScope, applicationScope in EL?
2. What's the relationship between ActionContext and request(requestScope)?

P.S.:

I test ${request == requestScope} which is true. Does this mean they are the same?