Russian forces currently occupy roughly one-fifth of Ukraine, says President Volodymyr Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russian forces currently occupy roughly one-fifth of Ukraine. Mr Zelensky in an address to lawmakers in Luxembourg yesterday said that as of today, about 20 percent of our territory is under the control of Russia. He added that Russian forces control some 48,000 square miles of Ukrainian territory.

According to media reports, Russian forces have been intensifying attacks on the city of Severodonetsk in the eastern Donbas region.

BBC reports that Britain’s Defence Ministry also said that Russia has taken control of most of the city. The Ministry said, Ukrainian forces control the main road into Sievierodonetsk, with Russia making steady local gains, enabled by a heavy concentration of artillery.

However, according to media reports, the Ukrainian forces began a retreat on Wednesday from Severodonetsk, the last Ukrainian holdout in the Luhansk oblast, one of two states that make up the Donbas region.