The article discusses a US peace proposal regarding Russia's annexation of Crimea and occupation of Ukrainian territories. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Russia demands the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from five eastern oblasts to open discussions for a ceasefire. Many Ukrainians view such demands as an unacceptable concession, fearing that accepting them would legitimize Russia's territorial claims and worsen their plight under occupation. The ongoing devastation is evident, with reports of entire towns destroyed and millions displaced due to the conflict.
For many Ukrainians, the proposal means never being able to return home to areas now occupied by Russians, and accepting that the Ukrainians who remain there, friends and family, become permanently subject to a violent and repressive Russian regime.
Orysia Lutsevych, a researcher at Chatham House, said: There is strong nationwide sentiment that Russia will want to take more of Ukraine's territory, so any concessions are only feeding the monster.
Ukrainians know that life under occupation is horrific. Ukrainians will never agree to legally recognise its occupied land as anything else than illegal brutal annexation.
In some cases, whole towns have been reduced to rubble in the course of the war, and many Ukrainians fled to safety either in Ukrainian-held territory or in other countries.
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