Ukraine Says 'All' Territory Will Be Defended
Russia has been constantly adjusting their stated goals in the invasion of Ukraine in response to the woes that they’re facing on the battlefield, with the latest version of “victory” including a modest, eastern-only redrawing of the map.
Specifically, the Kremlin is focusing on the Donbas region, where they had already used Russian separatists to control much of the area some months ago. This is a stark switch from their previous basement that it would only take 72 for Kyiv to fall, and it belies the severe disorganization of their military forces.
But it’s that same surprising ineptitude that is driving Ukraine to push back against this latest adjustment in the calculus, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy strongly dispelling the notion that his nation could compromise on territory.
Ukraine will fight to recover all its territory occupied by Russian forces, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday, as his troops struggled to hold their ground in bloody street-to-street fighting in the city of Sievierodonetsk.
“We have already lost too many people to simply cede our territory,” Zelenskiy said by video link at an event hosted by Britain’s Financial Times newspaper. “We have to achieve a full deoccupation of our entire territory.”
Zelenskiy’s remarks responded forcefully to suggestions that Ukraine must cede territory to Russia to end the war, now in its fourth month.
Zelenskyy was brutal in his assessment.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in a recent interview it was important not to “humiliate” Moscow, comments interpreted in Ukraine as implying it must accept some Russian demands.
Asked about Macron’s comments, Zelenskiy said: “We are not going to humiliate anyone, we are going to respond in kind.”
Russia’s war effort has been poor, to say the least, and has exposed the Kremlin’s constant machismo as little more than bluster.