Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to take full control of Ukraine’s Donbas region by force if Ukrainian forces do not withdraw.

“Either we liberate these territories by force of arms, or Ukrainian troops leave these territories," Putin said in an interview with India Today before his visit to India.

Russia had sent its troops into Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops in the Donbas, which is made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

In response to Putin’s demands, Ukraine has said it will not gift its territory to Russia that Moscow failed to win in the battle. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Moscow should not be rewarded for a war it started.

According to Reuters, Russia currently controls 19.2%

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