Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has refuted Russian President Vladimir Putin's claim that Ukrainian forces retain control of only about 10% of Donetsk Oblast. According to the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Ukraine actually holds roughly a fifth of the region's territory.
Sybiha stated this position on 6 November during a press conference in Warsaw. The statement was also disseminated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
“Putin lives in a parallel reality. He says Ukraine controls only 10% of Donbas. In fact, it is 20%,” — the minister emphasized.
The foreign minister's assessment aligns with data from independent analysts. According to estimates by the Ukrainian OSINT project DeepState published in mid-October, Russian forces controlled about 80% of Donetsk Oblast, while roughly 20% remained under Ukrainian control.
Similar data was provided by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW). As of 1 October, the Russian army still needed to capture about 5,382 square kilometers of Donetsk Oblast, which constituted approximately a fifth of its territory.
Earlier, on 16 October, Putin, during a meeting with Russian military command, claimed that Ukrainian forces held slightly more than 10% of Donetsk Oblast. He also asserted full Russian control over Luhansk Oblast and an alleged acceleration of the Russian offensive.
However, the figures cited by the Kremlin contradicted independent assessments of the front line. In particular, “Important Stories” established that the share of Donetsk Oblast controlled by Ukraine was roughly twice as large as claimed by Putin.
Sybiha also drew attention to Russian army losses and the results of combat operations. According to him, in October Russian forces lost more than 54,000 servicemen killed and seriously wounded. The minister claimed that during this period Ukraine liberated more territory than Russia managed to seize. No independent assessment of these figures was provided in his statement.
The foreign minister linked the spread of unreliable data about the situation on the front to Moscow's stance in peace negotiations. He emphasized that Ukraine takes the diplomatic process seriously but expects a similar approach from the Russian side.
According to Sybiha, instead of de-escalation, Russia continues to attack Ukraine's energy infrastructure, strike civilian objects, and increase pressure on the front.
The minister also stressed the necessity of direct participation of European states in discussing future security guarantees for Ukraine. He stated that decisions about Ukraine cannot be made without Kyiv, and issues of European security cannot be decided without Europe's participation.
These statements came ahead of trilateral talks between Ukraine, the US, and Russia in Abu Dhabi, scheduled for 10–11 November. Among the main priorities for the Ukrainian side, Sybiha named security guarantees, energy truce, de-escalation in the Black Sea, return of deported children, and prisoner exchanges.
