Kathrine Frich
More than a decade after Russia’s first land grab in Ukraine, the question of how far Kyiv can go in regaining its occupied regions remains one of Europe’s most divisive issues
.Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Moscow has seized vast areas of eastern and southern Ukraine, including parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
Despite major counteroffensives, much of this territory remains under Russian control.
Crosetto’s assessment
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said during an interview with journalist Bruno Vespa that the prospect of Ukraine reclaiming its occupied lands has effectively vanished.
“Regaining the territories lost in 2014 and after February 2022 is now considered impossible by everyone,” Crosetto told Vespa in remarks published ahead of the release of the book Finimondo by Mondadori and Rai Libri.
He explained that Moscow’s position has hardened beyond negotiation.
“Russia will never give them up, and Ukraine will not have the power to regain them on its own, not even with our help,” he said, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.
Crosetto added that President Vladimir Putin’s decision to amend Russia’s Constitution, formally declaring the occupied territories as “Russian,” has made any retreat politically unthinkable.
Propaganda concerns
In the same interview, Crosetto warned that Russia’s influence extends far beyond the battlefield.
“Italians of good faith have been corrupted by Russia,” he said, referring to disinformation campaigns designed to erode Western support for Ukraine.
He described this as a form of “hybrid war” being fought on a cognitive level.
“Without ordinary citizens noticing, its propaganda has penetrated the minds and cultural formation of many people, directing them through the use of social and informational tools, scientific infiltration and corruption,” the minister warned.
Sources: Digi24, ANSA, Agerpres, Reuters, BBC, AP
This article is made and published by Kathrine Frich, who may have used AI in the preparation
