Donbass is mentally more difficult to return than Crimea - Zelensky

Donbass is mentally more difficult to return than Crimea - Zelensky

Kyiv  •  UNN

November 30 2023, 09:50 AM • 28266 views

Zelensky believes that mentally returning the Donbass will be more difficult than Crimea, because of its 10-year line of contact and the ongoing conflict. He stressed the difficulty of changing the mentality of the occupied peoples.

President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that it will be mentally more difficult to return the Donbass than the occupied  Crimea.  he explained that it is precisely about the mental return of people to Ukraine. He announced this during a meeting with students of three Nikolaev universities, the correspondent reports UNN.

It may happen that we will return the territories earlier than these people. So it may be, because, for example, if we take the Donbass, then people live there for 10 years, but not there. That is, they live in a different space and this is a long process. I think it is more difficult with the Donbass. My partners once told me that it will be almost impossible for you to return Crimea and it will be very difficult to return the Donbass

- Zelensky said.

The president said that  it is mentally more difficult to return the Donbass and explained why.

Read also: after the de-occupation of Crimea, there will be a fleet and military security

"In my opinion, if we talk about people, because I believe that the territories are still returned with people and if people do not want to, it will be very difficult. I believe that it is mentally more difficult to return the Donbass, because there was a contact line with the occupation 10 years ago and there were constant military operations. Here's the answer. There was a lot of separatism on the other side and they fought. This means that certain families in the Donbas have not all returned, or some history has returned.that is, the relations are clear," Zelensky said.

He noted that there was no fighting in Crimea at the same time.

"And there were no military operations in Crimea, so I believe that Crimea is very much waiting for a return, and the Donbass is also waiting, but it will be very difficult, because most of this territory was occupied and militarized as much as possible. People went to the contact line, and then to a full - scale war against us," Zelensky said.