Ukraine: Putin considers the military dynamic “positive” and once again calls for the conquest of the entire Donbass

Vladimir Putin on Friday judged the dynamics of his troops on the front in Ukraine “positive”, estimating that they still had to conquer a little more than 10% of the Ukrainian region of Donetsk (east) in the Donbass.

“Overall, I see that the dynamics of the actions of our force groupings are positive,” declared the Russian president during a visit to a military command center, according to images released by the Kremlin. “The offensive of the formations and units of the armed forces is taking place across the entire front line and the pace of progress has significantly accelerated,” he continued, reading a statement sitting at a table and dressed in a military uniform.

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Peace conditional on Ukrainian withdrawal from Donestk

During this meeting, the head of the Russian general staff, Valéri Guerassimov, announced the capture of two localities at the heart of the fighting in the Donetsk region: Oleksievo-Drouzhkivka and Dobropillia. AFP is unable to confirm these claims from an independent source. Oleksievo-Drouzhkivka is located about fifteen kilometers as the crow flies south of Kramatorsk, one of the last two major Ukrainian strongholds in the region. “Of course, one of the main objectives remains the liberation of the Donetsk People's Republic”, the name given by Moscow to the Donetsk region, Vladimir Putin also reaffirmed, estimating that “a little more than 10%” of this region was still under Ukrainian control.

Moscow has conditioned any hypothetical peace agreement on a withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from this territory, which kyiv refuses, believing that it would amount to capitulation and make the country vulnerable to new Russian attacks. According to military analysts, the two armies largely neutralize each other along a vast front line characterized by a “death zone” several kilometers deep, where drone attacks complicate any movement. In recent weeks, still in the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian army has regained ground thanks to a counter-offensive, called Vivaldi and aimed at keeping Russian troops away to the northeast of the key towns of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.