Russians announce creation of “buffer zone” along Russian-Ukrainian border

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced his decision to create a so-called “security buffer zone” along the Russian-Ukrainian border.

This was reported by The Moscow Times.

Speaking at an operational meeting with members of the government, he noted that Russian troops had already begun to carry out this task.

It should be noted that this is not the first time that the Russian authorities have made such statements.

In particular, the creation of a “sanitary zone” was discussed back in June 2023.

Such intentions may be related to Russia’s negotiating position in the talks with Ukraine that took place in Turkey.

At that time, the Russian delegation demanded that control over the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions be transferred.

In April, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi stated that Russia was stepping up its offensive in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions.

According to him, Moscow’s strategic goals remain unchanged — to establish complete control over the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions, as well as to create a buffer zone in the Sumy, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv regions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has also spoken of similar threats. At the end of March, he said that, according to Ukrainian intelligence, Russia was preparing an offensive in three directions — in the Sumy, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions.

According to the head of state, Moscow is using the negotiation process solely as a tool to stall for time and weaken international support for Ukraine.

Ukrainian troops are also actively operating in enemy territory, in particular, restricting enemy maneuvers in the Kursk and Belgorod regions.