President Vladimir Putin stated in an interview published on Thursday that Russia is prepared to forcibly take control of Ukraine’s Donbas region if Ukrainian forces do not withdraw, a proposition that Kyiv has firmly rejected. The deployment of tens of thousands of troops by Putin into Ukraine in February 2022 followed years of conflict between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that constitute the Donbas area.
Putin, ahead of a visit to New Delhi, conveyed to India Today that the territories must either be reclaimed through military means or vacated by Ukrainian troops. However, Ukraine has emphasized its reluctance to cede its own land to Russia, particularly given Moscow’s failure to secure it through warfare. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has emphasized that rewarding Russia for initiating the war is unjustifiable, with approximately 5,000 square kilometers of Donetsk still under Ukrainian governance.
Currently, Russia exerts control over nearly 20% of Ukraine, encompassing Crimea, which was annexed in 2014, the entirety of Luhansk, over 80% of Donetsk, approximately 75% of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, and portions of Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions. In discussions with the United States to potentially broker a peace agreement, Russia has consistently insisted on gaining authority over the entire Donbas region and urged informal acknowledgment of Moscow’s control by the United States.
Following referendums in 2022 that were dismissed by Western nations and Kyiv as illegitimate, Russia proclaimed Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia as part of its territory. Despite this, most countries continue to recognize these regions, along with Crimea, as integral parts of Ukraine. During a meeting with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Putin indicated acceptance of certain U.S. proposals regarding Ukraine, highlighting the necessity for ongoing negotiations. Notably, discussions were grounded in suggestions previously deliberated between Putin and former U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska.
While some provisions are subject to negotiation, Russia has identified others as unacceptable, underscoring the challenging nature of the deliberations. Despite Trump’s assertion that Witkoff and Kushner left the extensive discussions with confidence in Putin’s commitment to resolving the conflict, European leaders have cast doubt on the sincerity of Russia’s engagement in Trump’s peace endeavors.
In a tragic turn of events, children have been among the casualties in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, with Russian attacks causing civilian casualties in various parts of the country. Russian bombardments of civilian areas persisted into Thursday, with incidents such as a ballistic missile strike in Kryvyi Rih resulting in injuries, including to a three-year-old girl. The city’s infrastructure suffered considerable damage, including residential buildings, schools, and gas pipelines, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.
In another distressing incident, a six-year-old girl in Kherson succumbed to injuries sustained from Russian artillery shelling, underscoring the catastrophic toll on innocent lives. The relentless attacks have left tens of thousands without vital utilities like power and heating, particularly in southern Ukraine. As winter approaches, Russia’s intensified assaults on Ukraine’s energy and utilities infrastructure have plunged cities and regions into darkness, magnifying the hardships faced by civilians.
Ukraine’s response has included targeting Russia’s oil exports, a retaliatory measure amid the ongoing conflict. The country has assumed responsibility for drone strikes on Russian-bound tankers, emphasizing its resolve while denying involvement in certain incidents. Amid these developments, Turkey, maintaining diplomatic ties with both Kyiv and Moscow, has urged both parties to safeguard energy infrastructure from the conflict, emphasizing the critical need to protect vital resources.
Meanwhile, tensions persist in the Kherson region under Russian occupation, with casualties reported as a result of a Ukrainian drone strike on a vehicle. The situation remains precarious as efforts to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the conflict continue amidst escalating violence and humanitarian crises.