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image source, EPA
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, stated that currently 20% of the territory of his country is under Russian control.
In an intervention before the Luxembourg parliament, Zelensky estimated thatlas Russian troops control some 125,000 square kilometers of territory ukrainianincluding the Crimean peninsula and the eastern parts of the country that Russia annexed in 2014.
According to the Ukrainian president, the current border between the two nations extends for more than 1,000 kilometers.
The Russians also control most of Severodonetsk, which, if they managed to capture the entire city, would have almost the entire Luhansk region under their control.
Russian advances at Luhansk
image source, Archyde.com
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) suggested that a possible withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Severodonetsk would be “strategically sensible” as the loss of the city would be “mostly symbolic”.
Further north, Ukraine has managed to expel Russian troops from Kharkiv, although the city remains under bombardment.
It is estimated that at least 12 million people in Ukraine have been forced from their homes since the conflict began on February 24.
According to Zelensky, at least five million people, mostly women and children, have left the country.
The United Nations estimates the number of displaced people at 15 million people.
Zelensky also pointed out that the number of military losses of the Russian forces exceeds 30,000 troops, more than the total number of Soviet casualties during the war in Afghanistan between 1979 and 1989, and the two wars in Chechnya between 1994 and 2000.
Russia for its part has reported 1,300 deaths in Ukraine.
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