Putin claims ‘whole of Ukraine is ours’ as forces near major city

The Russian president told attendees at a St. Petersburg conference that “wherever a Russian soldier steps foot, that’s ours”.

Ivan Nechepurenko

Updated Jun 22, 2025 – 10.17am, first published at Jun 21, 2025 – 5.29am

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St. Petersburg, Russia | Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday (Saturday AEST) doubled down on his justification for the war in Ukraine, claiming Russians and Ukrainians were one people and “in that sense, the whole of Ukraine is ours”.

Speaking at an annual economic conference in St. Petersburg, Russia, Putin did not rule out Russian forces taking control of the large Ukrainian city of Sumy. A Russian offensive in northern Ukraine has put its forces about 12 miles (20 kilometres) outside the city’s centre.