The question is whether we will win,” Zelenskiy said at the presidential palace in the Ukrainian capital. Ukraine still controls around one-fifth of the heavily industrialized and fortified Donetsk region, while Russia has seized roughly the entire Lugansk region. Ukraine has repeatedly ruled out pulling its troops out of the region, saying such a move would only embolden Russia. Zelenskiy said Kyiv was taking advantage of the situation, but conceded that Ukrainian forces had also experienced interruptions due to the outages. He said on Friday that Kyiv wants European troops — earmarked to be deployed in Ukraine in case of a halt in fighting — to be positioned close to the front.

Source: Taipei Times February 21, 2026 18:26 UTC