President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes the de-occupation of the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions will be more difficult than the de-occupation of Crimea, since we are talking, inter alia, about the mental return of people to Ukraine.

"It may happen that we will return these territories before we return these people. For example, if we are talking about Donbas, then people have been living there for ten years, but at the same time they are not there. They live in a different space. And this [de-occupation] is a long process. It can be completely different [with Donbas and Crimea]. I think it's more difficult with Donbas. My partners once told me: it will be almost impossible for you to return Crimea and it will be very difficult to return Donbas. And in my opinion, if we are talking about people, because all the same, the territories are returned with people, and if people don't want to, it will be very, very difficult," Zelenskyy said during a conversation with students from universities in Mykolaiv region.

Thus, according to the president, it will be much more difficult mentally to return Donbas, because with its occupation by Russia ten years ago, a contact line was created and constant hostilities took place.

"There was a lot of separatism on that side. And they fought. This means that in certain families in Donbas, not everyone returned, or some kind of [unpleasant] story returned. And even now, when Russia is fighting against us, the most notorious separatists are standing [against the Ukrainians] while the Russians are fleeing. This also says something," he said.

At the same time, in Crimea, as he noted, "there were no hostilities, and therefore I believe that Crimea is really looking forward to its return. Donbas is also waiting, but it will be very difficult, because most of this territory was occupied and militarized to the maximum." "People went to the contact line, and then to a full-scale war against us."

The head of state also said "now it is very important for Ukrainians to maintain integrity, because what we have is a unique experience: unity in the state [after the start of the war], and this is essential. We need to preserve this "everything else will definitely come back."