Zelensky: 20% of Ukraine has been occupied by Russia [Video]

• Russian forces have occupied 20 percent of Ukraine, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
• Intense fighting continues in eastern and southern Ukraine while a great part of the country is littered with mines.
• Russian forces are fighting to gain total control over eastern and southern Ukraine, after which they could continue further into the rest of the country.

About 20 percent of Ukraine has been occupied by Russian forces, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on Thursday.

Russian forces have continued their brutal attacks in an area in eastern and southern Ukraine over 48,000 sq. ft. in., roughly the size of North Carolina. In addition to intense fighting, about 116,000 square miles are also “bestrewn with mines and unexploded ordnance,” Zelenskyy stated.

The “special military operation” ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin started nearly 100 days ago. Russian officials have declared their goal to gain “full control” over eastern and southern Ukraine.

In the Donbas area, Russian forces have initiated an intense offensive on the ground to fight for total control of Luhansk.

On Thursday, the head of the separatist forces informed Russian media that only two cities stand in the way of complete Russian control in the northeastern region.

Ukrainian resistance forces are still holding out in the cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, which are located right next to each other and only separated by the Siverskyi Donets River. However, “most” of Sievierodonetsk is already under the control of Russian forces, the U.K.’s defense ministry said on Thursday.

Leonid Pasechnik, chief of the Russian-backed Luhansk People’s Republic, declared that about one-third of the city is controlled by occupying forces.

Zelenskyy said on Thursday, “The Russian army has already destroyed almost the entire Donbas.  Once one of the most powerful industrial centers in Europe is simply devastated. The occupiers are destroying it city after city.”

Once the Luhansk region is fully occupied, Russian troops could push further west into the Donetsk region and then the rest of the country. Russia may try to occupy Kyiv once again, as Ukrainian officials have previously warned.

Zelenskyy previously reported 14,000 deaths in Kyiv, but it is unclear if the number includes both Ukrainian and Russian casualties. Since the war began, the defense ministry reported nearly 31,000 deaths of Russian soldiers, but these figures are yet to be verified.

Zelenskyy stated, “We still don’t even know exactly how many of our people were killed by the occupiers. At least tens of thousands — tens of thousands in a little less than 100 days.”

Source: FOX News