Clément Molin Profile picture
Aug 18 18 tweets 7 min read Read on X
This is why giving away Donbass cannot be an option for Ukraine 🇺🇦

Donald Trump 🇺🇸 will ask Zelensky to give away Donbass in exchange for a ceasefire with Russia 🇷🇺.

It would mean giving 9 cities and the main fortifications to Russia without a fight.

🧵THREAD🧵1/18⬇️Image
Giving away Donbass may seem to be the solution to calm Putin and reach a ceasefire, or even the peace between Ukraine and Russia.

However this cannot be accepted by any government of Ukraine for few simple reasons. Image
Here, we are mainly talking about the non-occupied part of Donetsk oblast, since the northern part of Luhansk oblast is mainly rural and has been occupied without big fights in spring 2022.

This is what Russia took in 30 month (after the last ukrainian counter-offensive). Image
As @M0nstas states, this is 5100 km² in 30 months, it means there is still 6500km2 to be taken.

Also in the 5100km2, we count those cities :

-Bakhmut (biggest russian gain in 3 years) 80k pop
-Avdiivka 35k pop
-Torestk 35k pop
-Selydove 24k pop
-Kourakhove 20k pop
- - than 15k Image
So in 3 years of fight, with the main battles being waged in Donetsk oblast, Russia only took one "big" city (80k inhabitants) and smaller towns, all located in the periphery of Donetsk.

They still have to fight for the big cities of ukrainian controled Donbass.
In the 6500km2 to be taken we count :

-Kramatorsk 160k pop
-Sloviansk 120k pop
-Kostiantynivka 75k pop
-Pokrovsk 65k pop
-Droujkivka 60k pop
-Myrnohrad 50k pop
-Dobropilla 30k pop
-Lyman 22k pop
-Siversk 12k pop

In the lone Sloviansk-Kostiantynivka valley, 415k pop... Image
Who would be crazy enough to give away without a fight a total worth of more than 600k pop cities, while Russia only took ~250k pop cities in 3 years of war ?

This, without forgetting the area has industrial and mining potential, even if partly destroyed by 11 years of war. Image
With that stated, there is also the price for Russia. Russia is pushing constanlty in the region. Mainly with infantry, since Ukraine built large anti-vehicle oblastacles and is massively using drones.

This has an enormous human price for Russia. Image
Image
Image
That is the reason why Putin is not willing to fight for Pokrovsk, for Kramatorsk or Sloviansk.

He would lose too much men, the operation will take far more time and his economy will continue to suffer.

He is seeking an easy victory with D. Trump. Image
Also, Ukraine built massive fortifications in Donetsk oblast. This region is easily defendable. There are massive cities, industrial complexes, mines and undergrounds.

Everytime there is a field or a treeline, ukrainian fortifications are standing. Image
In this particular region, a big part of Ukraine's "New Donbass Line" is standing.

It goes from the southern part of the non-occupied part of the oblast to Izium, Kharkiv and now even Sumy ! Image
Here is a map of what would happen with this region in the hands of Russia.

No more big fortifications, an open terrain for further offensive actions in central Ukraine, to push to Dnipro, Poltava, Zaporizhia or Kharkiv oblasts. Image
If the region is handed over to Putin without a fight, it would place russian forces 10km to Izium, 26km to Lozova and 55km to Pavlohrad.

Those are the only cities west of Donbass, before Dnipro (120km) and Poltava (175km). Image
Ukrainian soldiers are not willing to give away Donbass, their region, the region they have been fighting for during 11 years, the one where they lost comrades.

Putin will not give anything in return, no Kherson, no Zaporizhia, no Kharkiv. So they have no interest in it.
But if Ukraine is not willing to leave Donbass to Russia without fighting, what will happen ?

Peace will probably not be found, Russia will continue to push and slowly taking the region, or maybe they will be forced to stop.
Russia's economy has been largely left untouched.

If tomorrow, ukrainian drones and missiles are destroying russian economy (factories, mines, oil and gas facilities, ports...), Putin may be forced to stop. Image
With Trump and the USA disengaging, it is now the role of Europe to continue to support Ukraine, as long as it is willing to fight.

France, Germany, the UK, Poland, Italy, the Baltics and Nordics countries must also become the real rear base of Ukraine. Image
Thank you for reading this thread.

Do not hesistate to share, like and follow my account for more in depth analysis.

I've also updated my biography with a longer version in french, you can translate it easily to know more about me.

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More from @clement_molin

Dec 8
La République Démocratique du Congo 🇨🇩 est-elle coupable d'héberger et d'armer les FDLR, des rebelles qui nourrissent l'ambition d'envahir le Rwanda 🇷🇼?

Entre mythes et réalités, la question des FDLR est au cœur de la guerre dans l'est de la RDC.

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Après avoir perpétré le génocide contre les tutsis (et les hutus modérés) en 1994 (800k à 1 million de morts), les Forces Armées du Rwanda et les génocidaires interahamwe ont pris la fuite avec 2 millions de Hutus vers le Zaïre. Image
Contrairement à ce qui a souvent été dit, l'Armée Zaïroise et les forces de l'ONU/françaises, n'ont pas eu ni la volonté ni la capacité de désarmer entièrement et efficacement les hutus fuyant le Rwanda.

Ainsi, dans l'est du Zaïre, de nombreuses armes lourdes sont arrivées. Image
Read 23 tweets
Dec 7
Au Yémen 🇾🇪, le coup de force des Emirats-Arabes-Unis 🇦🇪 pour contrôler le sud du pays

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Ils contrôle le sud du pays. Image
Les forces du gouvernement se composent d’un ensemble hétérogène : Armée nationale (ANY), brigades du MOD, unités tribales et islamistes, appuyées par l’Arabie saoudite ; elles disposent d’effectifs théoriquement importants mais fragmentés, sans cohésion stratégique forte et dépendants du soutien extérieur.Image
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Dec 6
Analysis of Russian 🇷🇺 airstrikes north of Sumy in 2025

This year, I've closely followed russian airstrike campaign.

In Sumy, I mapped around 4 000 strikes. With recent satellite images of a small 153 km2, I found 1641 airstrikes impact !

🧵THREAD🧵1/14 ⬇️Image
I found very recent sattelite images from May or June 2025.

What they are showing is really crazy. Multiple airstrikes impacts and wiped out villages, it helps to understand russian strategy. Image
Thus, I have decided to cover this small area of 153km2 with airstrikes visible on the high resolution images of june in white and the ones on mid resolution from october and november in pink.

1641, it's 10.7 per km2 ! Image
Read 14 tweets
Dec 6
Pourquoi la RD Congo 🇨🇩, le Rwanda 🇷🇼, le Burundi 🇧🇮 et l'Ouganda 🇺🇬 sont ils tous en guerre dans l'est du Congo ?

Depuis 1994, les trois Etats organisent ensemble le pillage des ressources minières congolaise, changeant régulièrement d'alliance, CARTE :

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Le principal Etat impliqué est le Rwanda. Mais pourquoi est-il en guerre dans l'est du Congo ?

Lors de la guerre entre le FPR (tutsis) et l'Etat Rwandais (Hutu) entre 1990-1994, le FPR est soutenu et armé par l'Ouganda 🇺🇬, la Grande Bretagne 🇬🇧 et les Etats-Unis 🇺🇸 Image
Battant les forces armées rwandaises (hutus) pendant le génocide, le FPR prend le pouvoir, avec à sa tête Paul Kagame.

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Read 25 tweets
Nov 28
The use of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs): the new revolution in the Ukrainian 🇺🇦 war.

Replacing infantry, UGVs fulfill several roles: combat support, troop evacuation, mine-laying, or logistics...

The revolution of ground drones in Ukraine 🇺🇦/🇷🇺 :

🧵THREAD🧵1/17⬇️Image
Like images from the future, ground drones are becoming increasingly visible on the ground in Ukraine.

While the arrival of aerial drones and their variants, as well as naval drones, has been well covered, the arrival of ground drones has been almost forgotten.
Multiple videos from the last few weeks are showing a wider use of ground drones for various missions.

Even if they are often targeter by aerial drones, they are still being very useful.
Read 17 tweets
Nov 27
« La Russie n'est pas mon ennemie… 🇫🇷🇷🇺 »

📸Tchasiv Yar, Ukraine 🇺🇦

🧵1/25 ⬇️Image
📸Vovchansk Image
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Read 25 tweets

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