Posted on 08/19/2025 2:29:06 PM PDT by marcusmaximus
Ukraine’s most heavily fortified region has become the center-point for peace talks to end the war with Russian leader Vladimir Putin reportedly demanding that Kyiv cede the entire territory to Moscow.
But the Donestk oblast — which is smaller than Massachusetts and home to about 4 million people — has been at the center of some of the most brutal fighting of the war, and the Kremlin has not been able to take the entire region after more than three and a half years.
A source familiar with Friday’s meeting between Putin and President Trump described negotiations over the fate of Donetsk as “the ball game.”
“Every issue is an ancillary issue, except Donetsk,” the source previously told The Post.
-snip-
Despite its advancements in the frontlines, Russia has found it increasingly difficult to take all of Donetsk, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that his forces still hold the strategic cities of Sloviansk and Kramators, which have served as a “fortress belt” guarding against Moscow’s fighters.
-snip-
Putin reportedly told Trump his forces could conquer Donetsk by October if Ukraine didn’t give up the land as part of a peace deal — but Kyiv and US observers point out that the Kremlin has failed to take it for more than a decade.
“Even if we’re being generous to the Russians and say they can maintain their current advance, which we know they can’t keep up and have been pushed back from… It would take about 475 days for Russia to take the entirety of Donetsk, that’s December 2026,” Barros said.
One American veteran serving in the Ukrainian Armed Services scoffed, “Donetsk by October? They’ve been saying that since February of ‘22.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Zelensky should agree to the ceasefire. If Putin is refusing to negotiate, then Ukraine is going to have to continue to fight.
Speaking of which, is there a warm water port in Kaliningrad?
Easy to block it.
“Putin reportedly told Trump his forces could conquer Donetsk by October if Ukraine didn’t give up the land as part of a peace deal — but Kyiv and US observers point out that the Kremlin has failed to take it for MORE THAN A DECADE.”
Bogus claim, bogus article.
Russia would have had a chance to capture that remaining territory if Putin hadn’t blown up his best general Prigozhin.
“It’s all about Russian getting warm-water ports.”
Russia already has warm water ports so it’s more like Russia trying to keep the warm water ports that it already has, which is why Russia had agreed to forgo Odessa until the Neocons prevented the agreement from being signed in Spring, 2022.
That is choice and it's an easy one.
They won't have another one like him.
But Russia isn't focusing on territory and hasn't been for two years.
The Russian focus is destroying the Ukrainian military to the point it collapses. And, Ukraine is absolutely facing a severe manpower shortage.
“Isn’t that the area with rare earth minerals?”
That seemed to come out of nowhere. My understanding that the nothing spectacular regarding rare earth is known to exist in Ukraine. So maybe some places to mine, but not super-high concentrations of it.
Luhansk and Donetsk are the regions where the people with Russian language and culture were marginalized by the post-2014 US (Obama) backed coup government.
These are two of four regions the Russian military has been active in since Russia attacked in 2022.
Give them to Russia you bet.
Ignoring you is an easy choice.
It’s coming up on the 2 year anniversary of Putin blowing up Prigozhin. He was blown up on August 23, 2023,
Then they should give it back.
Your Putin is dumb dumb dumb for blowing up his best general Prigozhin.
If Ukraine is so short on manpower why have they not lowered the age of conscription from 25 to 18? Obviously the Ukrainians do not think that they are in such dire straits.
Greedy fux
Russia - Because 11 Time Zones just isn’t enough
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