Russia controls fifth of Ukraine, Zelensky says as war enters 100th day
- Battle for Ukraine’s east rages 100 days since Russia invaded its neighbour on February 24
- Russian troops appear closer to fully capturing the key Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk
Ukraine marked 100 days since Russia’s invasion on Friday with fighting raging across the east of the country.
The war milestone came as Kyiv announced Moscow was now in control of a fifth of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea and parts of the Donbas seized in 2014.
“As of today, 20 per cent of our territory is under the control of the occupiers,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video statement to the Luxembourg parliament on Thursday, the equivalent to 125,000 sq km.
“That’s more than the entire Benelux,” said Zelensky, using a common term used for Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. He also noted that the front line between the warring countries now extended over 1,000km.
Russian troops had occupied a total of some 3,260 communities – many of which had subsequently been liberated – since the invasion began in February, Zelensky said, adding that the Ukrainian army was determined to prevent the fall of the administrative centre of Sievierodonetsk, which has been the subject of fierce fighting for days in which Russian forces and separatist troops loyal to Moscow appear to have the upper hand.
“The situation is difficult, but it is better than yesterday. And it is under control,” the deputy chief of Ukraine’s general staff, Oleksiy Hromov, said in Kyiv.