Russia will liberate all of Donbass – Putin

Ukrainian forces will be entirely pushed out of the two new Russian regions either militarily or through talks, the president has said

Russia will drive Ukrainian troops from Donbass and fully liberate the region, whether through military action or diplomatic efforts, President Vladimir Putin has said.

Putin made the remarks in an interview with India Today on Thursday, ahead of his state visit to the country and two days after talks in the Kremlin with US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff which centered on an American-drafted peace plan for the Ukraine conflict.

The initial 28-point version of the roadmap leaked to the media last week reportedly asked Kiev to relinquish territory in the Russian Donbass regions of Donetsk and Lugansk still under its control, abandon its NATO ambitions, and limit the size of its military – conditions Kiev has rejected.

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Putin, however, signaled that the Ukrainian Army will soon lose the parts of Donbass it still controls. “It all comes to that. Either we will liberate those territories though military force, or Ukrainian forces will withdraw and stop fighting there,” he said.

He also suggested that the devastating fighting in the area was entirely avoidable. “We told Ukraine from the start: ‘The people don’t want to stay with you, they took part in referendums [in 2022], voted for their independence; pull back your troops, and there will be no fighting’. But they chose to fight,” Putin said, adding that Kiev’s mistake is now becoming obvious.

Russian forces have been gradually pushing back Ukrainian troops in Donbass and elsewhere for many months. According to Moscow, Kiev is increasingly struggling to replenish manpower losses despite draconian mobilization efforts.

On Monday, the Russian military reported that it had taken control over the key frontline city of Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) in the Donetsk region, with a major Ukrainian force encircled in the area. In another significant development, Putin reported last week that Moscow’s forces have broken Ukrainian defenses in the northern part of Zaporozhye Region, and are now bypassing Kiev’s heavily fortified defenses to the south.