Russia controls ‘about 20 percent’ of Ukraine: Zelensky

KYIV (AFP/Aljazeera)- Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday Russian troops control about one-fifth of his country, including the annexed Crimean peninsula and territory in the east held by Moscow-based separatists since 2014.   

“Today, about 20 percent of our territory is under the control of occupiers” he said during an address to lawmakers in Luxembourg, as Russian forces were solidifying their hold on the eastern Donbas region and pushing towards Ukraine’s de facto administrative centre.   

In a separate report al Jazeera reported Ukrainian forces were holding just a fifth of the eastern city of Severodonetsk on Wednesday, but there was still hope that they could prevent Russia from taking full control, the head of the city administration has said.   

Earlier, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russian forces were pounding infrastructure in eastern and southern regions including Severodonetsk.   

Russian forces entered the eastern Ukrainian city, the largest still held by Kyiv in the Luhansk region, late last week after weeks of shelling.   

If Russia captures the city and its smaller twin Lysychansk on the higher west bank of the Siverskyi Donets river, it would hold all of Luhansk, one of two provinces in the eastern Donbas region that Moscow claims on behalf of separatists and a key war aim of Russian President Vladimir Putin.