Zelensky Mocks Russia over Delayed Donbas Goals

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mocked Russia’s military campaign on Monday, saying the Kremlin had set and postponed 15 deadlines over more than four years to capture the eastern Donbas region.

His comments came in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who on Sunday rejected what he described as a Ukrainian proposal to abandon long-range strikes and scale down the fighting.

Putin called the proposal a ploy to ease pressure on Kyiv’s military and said Russian forces would continue efforts to fully capture the four Ukrainian regions Moscow claims as its own.

Zelensky said Putin’s remarks showed he was out of touch with Russians facing queues at petrol stations after Ukrainian strikes on oil industry targets.

“Even an oil-producing state, a ‘gas station’ as Russia has often been called, is now facing fuel shortages”, Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

“This is a direct consequence of the war. One of many consequences. It is also one example of how Ukraine responds – with precision, not through terrorism.”

Zelensky said Russia’s leadership remained obsessed with Donbas and had repeatedly moved back deadlines to capture Donetsk and Luhansk in Donbas, as well as Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

“If Russia does not end the war, it will have to postpone that deadline once again”, he said.

Zelensky said Ukraine had already put forward proposals to move towards ending the war, but Russia had rejected them every time. He also said Russians who had not yet been mobilized and were now arguing in fuel queues should think carefully about what awaited them.

(Reuters, Max)