The leader of the pro-Russian separatist territory of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine said on Friday that Russia must continue its military offensive to "liberate" all of Ukraine and take kyiv.
"I would say that we (must) liberate all of Ukraine, and of course the Russian city of kyiv and Western Ukraine," said Denis Pushilin, in an interview with the Russian public agency TASS at the economic forum in Saint PETERSBOURG.
“This would make it possible not to transfer this heavy responsibility to the next generation,” he added.
Moscow concentrates its offensive in the east
Launching its assault on Ukraine on February 24, Russia initially tried to conquer Kyiv, but resistance from Ukrainian forces forced it to retreat.
Since then, Moscow has focused its offensive in eastern Ukraine on the Donbass region, where Vladimir Putin has recognized the independence of two separatist territories, the "republics" of Donetsk and Lugansk.
The Kremlin justifies its offensive against its neighbor by the need to “protect” the populations of Donbass from allegedly Nazi Ukrainian forces.
Putin further denies the reality of the Ukrainian nation and people, believing that historically Russians and Ukrainians were one.
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War in Ukraine
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Vladimir Poutine