MOSCOW, Oct 17 — Ukrainian forces controlled only a small part of the eastern Donetsk region and its capture was among Russia’s “main objectives”, President Vladimir Putin told military leaders in remarks made public yesterday. 

Putin said Russian forces were waging an offensive across the “entire front line”, and described his army’s progress as “positive”.

The Russian leader’s comments came as the Ukraine war ground through its fifth year, with both sides struggling to make breakthroughs and US-led peace talks deadlocked over the issue of territory.

Russia has long pushed for full control of the Donetsk region, which it claims as its own, and has threatened to take it by force if Ukraine does not cede it through negotiations.

Ukraine, which has launched its own offensive in the Donetsk region, has called Moscow’s demand a capitulation that would leave it vulnerable to a future Russian attack.

“On the whole I see a positive trend in the operations of the troop groupings,” Putin told military leaders in a video published on the Kremlin website.

“Undoubtedly, one of the main objectives remains the liberation of the Donetsk People’s Republic,” he added, using the Kremlin’s name for the region.

Ukrainian troops made some gains against Russia in the Donetsk region in September, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War.

Widespread drone use at the front has made swift, large-scale troop movements almost impossible, preventing either side from gaining a clear advantage in the more than four-and-a-half-year war. — AFP