The soon release of Donbas and the cessation of the war in 2014 became impossible only because of Russian intervention, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.
“We managed to return the most part of Donbas to the sovereignty of Ukraine in the summer of 2014. Only direct intervention by Russian troops using modern technology and weapons stopped the process of liberation and hampered the rapid completion of the ATO (Anti-Terrorist operation), which seemed quite possible before the invasion,” he said, delivering an annual message in the parliament on Sept. 7.
