Zelenskyy rejects Russian demands to surrender Ukraine's fortress belt in Donetsk

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected Russian demands to hand over the heavily fortified fortress belt in northern Donetsk province, a strategically vital area that Kyiv says would serve as a springboard for further Russian aggression.

At stake is the approximately 6,000-square-kilometer portion of Donetsk province that remains under Ukrainian control. Russia insists this territory must be handed over without a fight as part of any ceasefire agreement. US Vice President JD Vance in early April accused both Moscow and Kyiv of "haggling over a few square kilometers of territory" and questioned whether the dispute was worth "losing hundreds of thousands of additional Russian and Ukrainian young men." Officials in Kyiv reject demands to retreat as both unjust and misguided.

Ukraine's fortress belt stretches for around 50 kilometers and connects the urban centers of Kramatorsk, Slovyansk, Kostyantynivka, and Druzhkivka. The belt is located on relatively high ground ideal for defensive warfare and incorporates the Siverskyi Donets and Oskil rivers as natural barriers. It features extensive trench and bunker networks, minefields, and anti-tank barriers built around multiple urban centers that serve as bastions and logistics hubs for the Ukrainian military. Ukrainian efforts to fortify the region have been ongoing for more than a decade since the initial phase of Russia's invasion in 2014.

Based on current battlefield dynamics, most military analysts believe it would take Russia between one and two years to establish full control over the region. Moscow would need to concentrate the bulk of its invasion force for a large-scale offensive, with a series of major battles likely to result in hundreds of thousands of additional Russian casualties.

Zelenskyy has referred to the area as a "springboard" for future Russian aggression and stressed that any move to hand over the fortress belt would create conditions for Putin to escalate his invasion. The Ukrainian military has been defending the fortress belt region for more than twelve years, with thousands of lives lost to prevent Russia from advancing. Ukrainians note that Putin has framed his invasion as a mission to return "historically Russian lands" to Moscow's control, a vision that almost certainly includes the whole of Ukraine.

If Ukraine agreed to retreat from the fortress belt voluntarily, the entire strategic outlook of the war would be transformed. A retreat would allow Russian troops to advance 80 kilometers deeper into Ukraine and forfeit the single biggest physical barrier to Russia's invasion. Following a withdrawal, the Ukrainian military would have to construct new fortifications on the borders of Donetsk province in far less suitable terrain, lacking high ground and urban density, while Russia would enjoy an elevation advantage and be in a strong position to thrust deeper into central Ukraine.

As Russia's battlefield advances slow, Ukrainian forces hold strong positions and are prepared to continue defending the region. Officials in Kyiv argue that instead of calling on Ukraine to forfeit critical territory, Western leaders should concentrate on pressuring Putin to match Zelenskyy's earlier acceptance of a proposal to freeze the war along the current front lines.