Zelenskyy: Russia would need another four years to occupy Donbas

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed claims that Russia will soon seize full control of Donbas, saying such a scenario would take "another four years," Report informs via RBC Ukraine.

Speaking at a meeting with journalists, Zelenskyy explained that Russia had occupied the entire Crimean peninsula and a third of the Donetsk region before launching its full-scale invasion, and has since captured roughly another third.

“Currently, they (Russia - ed.) hold about 67–69% in total. That is, in almost four years of full-scale war, they have occupied one-third of the Donetsk region. So claims that they will occupy all of our Donbas by the end of the year are just talk. To occupy our Donbas, they would need another four years,” the Ukrainian president explained.

Regarding the Sumy region, Zelenskyy is confident that the Russians will not capture it.

“And, frankly, they (Russians - ed.) won’t be able to hold the border areas where they are now. In today’s realities, it’s only a matter of time, just a few months, and they won’t be in the Sumy region,” the Ukrainian leader noted.

Zelenskyy also believes that, in the future, the Russians will not capture the Kharkiv region.