Ukraine's future being decided now in east and south - president

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are holding back enemy attacks in the east and south of Ukraine, where the fate of the war and the future of our state are being decided.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in a video address, Ukrinform reports.

"The Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to hold back attacks by Russian invaders in the east and south of our country. Izium, Donbas, the Sea of Azov area, Mariupol, Kherson region are the places where the fate of this war and the future of our state are being decided," he said.

He stressed that the enemy in this war is trying to achieve a primitive goal - to kill as many people as possible and destroy everything they see. "This is happening in Sloviansk and Kramatorsk and the Donetsk region as a whole, in Popasna and the Luhansk region as a whole, and in the Kharkiv region," Zelensky said.

On February 24, Russia launched a new phase of its war against Ukraine. Russian troops have been shelling and bombing peaceful Ukrainian cities, towns and villages.

The Ukrainian military stopped the enemy's attack and is inflicting heavy losses on Russian invaders. As of April 22, Russia lost about 21,200 soldiers in Ukraine.