For full occupation of Donbas, Putin needs to sacrifice up to 1 million lives – Zelensky
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that for the complete occupation of Donbas, Vladimir Putin would have to sacrifice between 300,000 and 1 million people, and assured that Ukraine will not withdraw its troops from the region.
The head of state said this in an interview for the podcast The Rest Is Politics, Ukrinform reports, citing the President's Telegram channel.
"He suffers tremendous losses and doesn't have enough well-trained people on the battlefield. He is trying to find an off-ramp that looks like a victory. That's why he is trying to push us out of Donbas via diplomacy, through dialogue with the United States. Because to fully occupy Donbas he would need to sacrifice between 300,000 and 1 million people, depending on how many years they would plan the operation for. This is a huge price to pay even for Putin," Zelensky said.
He also noted that the Russians are trying to force Ukraine to withdraw troops from Donbas because they know that "it will divide our nation."
According to the President, if Ukraine's unity is undermined, Putin would come up with a new "blitzkrieg" to occupy Ukraine very quickly. Even if that does not happen, he would use any pause to recruit more personnel, train them, expand the military-industrial base, and seek the lifting of sanctions.
"So a ceasefire in the format "stay where we stay" is not only our wish, it is in the interest of our partners too," Zelensky added.
At the same time, he assured that Putin understands he cannot fully occupy Ukraine. "It's just that sometimes he shares messages with our partners that are not what he truly thinks," the President said.
As previously reported, in an interview with Rai Radio, Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donetsk region cannot be considered a compromise, as it would allow Russia to later occupy Kharkiv and Dnipro.
Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine