In a comment to Russian state-controlled RIA Novosti, Denis Pushilin, the leader of the Kremlin’s proxies in Donetsk Oblast, said a so-called "referendum" for this territory to join Russia will be held if Russian forces capture the whole of the two oblasts.
"If they give them to us, we will give them interceptors. It is an equal exchange," he said.
"Russia has turned torture into state policy and uses it as a weapon," Ukraine's Human Rights Ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said.
Orban held a phone call with Putin amid an escalating spat between Kyiv and Budapest.
The committee was created by order of Lidia Izovitova, head of the association. Izovitova has faced criticism for allegedly being a protégé of pro-Kremlin politician Viktor Medvedchuk. Izovitova's tenure as head of the association ended in 2022, and she has been accused of holding her position illegally.
"Three additional settlements in the area have been fully cleared of Russian troops, while fighting continues for several more," the statement read.
Ukraine received its first payment of $1.5 billion under a new International Monetary Fund program, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on March 3.
The case was brought before the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.
