Head of Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine's Donetsk says 50% of region under Moscow control

A man walks down a war-torn street, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in the city Slovyansk, Donetsk region of Ukraine, December 12, 2022. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

(Reuters) - The top Moscow-installed official in the occupied parts of the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine said early on Tuesday that more than 50% of the region's territory is under Russian control.

The so-called Donetsk People's Republic is one of the four regions in Ukraine which Moscow proclaimed as its own in September in what Ukraine and its allies called a "sham," coercive referendum.