Ukraine's fate to be decided in east and south, says Zelenskyy as Russia outlines war plan

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the fate of Ukraine will be decided in the country’s east and south, after a Russian general outlined Moscow’s aim to take full control of southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the fate of Ukraine will be decided in the country’s east and south, even as Russia acknowledged that its goal in the nearly two-month-long war has shifted to occupation of eastern and southern Ukraine.

“Izyum direction, Donbas, Azov coast, Mariupol, Kherson Oblast are the places where the fate of this war and the future of our state is being decided now,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky in his daily address on Friday.

In a grim warning to the rest of Europe, Zelenskyy said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was only the beginning and that Vladimir Putin would eventually direct his troops further west to grab other countries.

“All the nations that, like us, believe in the victory of life over death must fight with us. They must help us, because we are the first in line. And who will come next?" Zelenskyy said.

The embattled Ukrainian leader’s remarks came in the wake of a Russian general saying that the Kremlin aims to take full control of not just eastern Ukraine -- where an all-out war for the Donbas region is taking place -- but the south too.

READ: Why Donbas is a crucial buffer for Russia | Explained

Rustam Minnekayev, deputy commander of Russia's central military district, was quoted by Russian state news agencies as saying full control over southern Ukraine would give it access to Transnistria, a breakaway Russian-occupied part of Moldova in the west.