New Delhi: Russian forces have currently occupied about 20% of Ukraine’s territory, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Luxembourg’s parliament, in a video address, on Thursday. According to a report by news agency Reuters, Zelensky said, “We have to defend ourselves against almost the entire Russian army. All combat-ready Russian military formations are involved in this aggression.” The Ukrainian President further added that the front lines of battle stretched across more than 1,000 kilometres (620 miles).
According to an AFP report, Zelensky said that the Russian forces currently occupy about one-fifth of his country, including the annexed Crimean peninsula along with the territory in the east held by Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.
#BREAKING President Zelensky says ‘about 20 percent’ of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces pic.twitter.com/tMZslhSxg8
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) June 2, 2022
He further said that the Russian troops are solidifying their hold on the eastern Donbas region and are further pushing towards Ukraine’s de facto administrative centre there.
Earlier, during an address on Wednesday, Zelensky had alleged that Russia has been engaged in a “consistent criminal policy of deporting our people” into the remotest areas of Russia and added that more than 200,000 children have been deported so far.
“Russia forcibly removes both adults and children. This is one of Russia’s most heinous war crimes. In total, more than 200,000 Ukrainian children have been deported so far. These are orphans from orphanages. And children with parents. And children divorced from their families,” a report by CNN quoted the Ukrainian President as saying.
“The Russian state disperses these people on its territory and settles our citizens, in particular, in remote regions. The purpose of this criminal policy is not just to steal people but to make deportees forget about Ukraine and not be able to return,” Zelensky further added.