MOSCOW, May 21. /TASS/. The Russian Armed Forces will not let Ukrainian troops retain Nikolayev, Odessa and Kharkov because these are historically Russian territories, Major General Apty Alaudinov, the commander of Chechen Akhmat commando unit and deputy head of the main military-political department of the Russian army, said.

"You and I will see, like I mentioned earlier, <...> specifically the contours of those territories that we will not let the adversary hold on to in the future," he told the Rossiya-1 TV channel.

Replying to a question as to whether these territories include Nikolayev, Odessa and Kharkov, he said that these are "originally Russian territories and it is unlikely that Ukraine manages to retain them."