After more than 50 days of Russian invasion, Ukrainian President assures Donbass region is “the main target” of Russia.
“We’ve already held out for 50 days.” In his latest daily video message, Volodymyr Zelenskyy assured that after “50 days of Russian invasion” Russia intends to “destroy” the Donbass region.
We have already endured 50 days, 50 days of the Russian invasion, even though the occupiers thought they would get there in 5 days, the Ukrainian president began, before continuing: They have shown that Donbass is their goal the Donbass they want to destroy, it is the Donetsk and Lugansk regions that are being destroyed, they are destroying them as if to leave behind only pebbles.”
“They Burn Everything”
For several days, Russian troops have been concentrating their forces in this region of eastern Ukraine, where Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of the pro-Russian separatist regions of Donetsk and Lugansk just before the military invasion of the country. Ukrainian authorities have urged civilians to evacuate the area amid fears of an attack in the coming days.
“They recruit the residents of these regions by force, they throw them into the fiercest fighting and then they destroy towns and villages, they burn everything,” the Ukrainian president warned.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also commented on the Russian flagship, which sank in the Black Sea on Thursday evening after being hit by a Ukrainian missile, saying: “Russian ships can only get to the bottom”.