'Primitive move': Zelenskyy responds to Russia's proposal for humanitarian mission in Kostiantynivka
Photo: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Getty Images)
Russia wants to organize a humanitarian mission in Kostiantynivka to finally capture the city. There are almost no civilians there, only military personnel, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told journalists.
"Russia's story about the civilian population in Kostiantynivka is Putin's reaction to his failure to capture the city. It is an absolutely primitive move because otherwise he cannot take the city," Zelenskyy said.
According to him, Putin simply wants Ukrainian troops to leave Kostiantynivka so that Russian forces can enter and occupy the entire city.
"But we are deeply familiar with the situation and take everything into account. I explained my position on Kostiantynivka to the American negotiators. The people there are exclusively Ukrainian citizens with weapons and Russian citizens who are occupiers and also have weapons. And fighting is taking place inside Kostiantynivka. They brought me this proposal and then said, 'Yes, we understand,'" the president said.
He noted that Ukraine had done everything possible to allow civilians to leave Kostiantynivka.
Zelenskyy stressed that if Ukraine hands Kostiantynivka over to the Russians, their next steps will be to seize other cities in Donbas. That is the philosophy behind this idea.
"In Oleshky, we had one success — the most important one: we unblocked the people. But do not forget who blocked them and why. The Russians blocked the people and planted mines there. People were left without food. And it is wonderful that we unblocked them and evacuated people from there. But if you look at satellite images, you will see that the Russians brought a lot of different weapons there and strengthened their positions in Oleshky. So what will happen to Kostiantynivka?" he said.
The president recalled that the Russians had been unable to capture Kostiantynivka for a year and a half. In October, they lost 54,000 occupiers in their assaults.
"If they cared about the lives of civilians, they could have proposed similar operations in villages near Oleshky. But Russia did not propose any of those villages. And what did they propose? Kostiantynivka. Why? Because after Kostiantynivka, there will be Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. They want to destroy these cities and kill all our people. That is their idea," Zelenskyy stressed.
At a meeting with US President's special envoys on November 12, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said that a humanitarian mission could be organized in Kostiantynivka, following the example of the one carried out in Oleshky, Kherson region.
The Kremlin said that Russian occupiers were ready to begin demining Kostiantynivka. This would supposedly take five days.
The Office of the President of Ukraine noted that the Russians could be proposing a humanitarian mission in Kostiantynivka in order to rotate their troops, as they did in Oleshky.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said that the Ukrainian side was currently unaware of any preparations for a humanitarian mission in Kostiantynivka.
