Putin says Russia set on creating ‘buffer zone’ in Ukraine

The president made the remarks during a government meeting dedicated to the situation in Russia’s border regions, including Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk. Additional measures to support their residents were also discussed.

“It has been decided to create the necessary security buffer zone along the border. Our armed forces are actively solving this task now. The enemy’s firing positions are suppressed, the work is going on,” Putin said.

The idea to create “a certain cordon sanitaire” in Ukrainian-controlled territory along the border was first floated by Putin last March. The president added Moscow could ultimately be “forced” to create such a zone in order to protect civilians in the border regions from Ukrainian long-range strikes.

Russian troops would create a “security zone that would be quite difficult for the adversary to overcome with its weapons, primarily of foreign origin,” if and “when we consider it appropriate,” Putin stated at the time.

Putin’s announcement comes in the wake of an indiscriminate Ukrainian strike on the Kursk town of Lgov that left at least 12 civilians wounded, including two children. According to interim Kursk Governor Aleksandr Khinshtein, the attack targeted an area near the Kursk-Rylsk highway where the route enters the town. Media reports indicated the strike involved at least three projectiles fired by a US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launcher.

Over the past two days, Kiev conducted a massive long-range drone attack even deeper into Russia. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, a total of 485 Ukrainian fixed-wing UAVs were downed across the country in the past 48 hours. At least 63 of the drones were intercepted in Moscow Region, while the largest number were stopped over Orel Region, the military said.