Zelensky says Ukraine would have won a huge victory if Russia had not taken complete control
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky would consider Russia's failure to fully control Ukraine a victory.
According to RIA Novosti on September 8, in an interview with the American television channel ABC News, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he would consider Ukraine a great victory if its territory was not completely under Russian control.
The Ukrainian leader’s statements on the territorial issue have recently become more pointed and tough. Mr. Zelensky has begun to say that Ukraine “does not recognize the legitimacy” of the annexation of lands not controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Now, Mr. Zelensky has issued a statement that allows for a broader interpretation of possible options for acknowledging Ukraine's territorial losses.
In an interview with ABC News, Mr Zelensky said Russia was believed to want to "completely occupy" Ukraine, arguing that this would be a victory for President Putin.
"For him, this is a victory. And until he does this, victory is ours," President Zelensky affirmed.
In June 2025, speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, President Putin stressed that Russia has never questioned the independence and sovereignty of the Ukrainian people. In September, speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum, the Russian leader noted that Ukraine's accession to NATO and the deployment of foreign troops on Ukrainian territory are unacceptable to Russia, and that it is necessary to build security guarantees not only for Kiev but also for Moscow.
In addition to the territories of the newly annexed regions, Moscow also controls large parts of the Kharkiv, Sumy and Dnepropetrovsk regions and continues to exert increasing control over many populated areas. President Putin told SPIEF in June: "Wherever there is a footstep of a Russian soldier, there it belongs to us."
Referendums on the annexation of the Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions to Russia were held from September 23 to 27, 2022.
Based on the results of 100% of the ballots, 99.23% of voters in Donetsk voted in favor of joining Russia, 98.42% in Lugansk, 87.05% in Kherson region and 93.11% in Zaporozhye region. On September 30, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a speech at the Kremlin on the results of these referendums and signed agreements on the accession of new regions to Russia.
