Ukraine will emerge victorious from the war started by Russia, its president Volodimir Zelensky said this Friday on completion 100 days of the invasion launched by Moscow, whose troops intensify their offensive in the eastern region of Donbas.
Thousands of people have died, millions have fled their homes and there are entire villages in ruins since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to invade Ukraine on 24 February.
The advance of the Russian army was slowed down by the fierce resistance of the Ukrainians, who managed to thwart a lightning offensive to topple the pro-Western government in kyiv and forced Moscow to turn east, to conquer the mining area Donbas.
The Ukrainian president sought to convey a message of confidence to his fellow citizens this Friday in a video broadcast from kyiv together with the country’s high command. “Victory will be ours”, he affirmed.
Russian troops concentrated in Donbas
But Zelensky also acknowledged that Russia has tripled the portion of Ukrainian territory under its control. With the Crimean peninsula annexed in 2014 and the areas of Donbas and southern Ukraine under its control, Russia now occupies some 125.000 square kilometers.
Moscow has achieved “certain” objectives since the beginning of the offensive, said the spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov.
Among others, the Russian troops have “liberated numerous towns” and have allowed their inhabitants to return to “a life in peace”.
Putin’s troops are concentrated in Donbas and the battle is especially fierce in the city of Severodonetsk.
“For a hundred days, they destroy everything that differentiated the Lugansk region,” declared regional governor Sergei Gaiday.