Russian military asked to expand buffer zone in Ukraine

Russia's chief of general staff stated that President Putin requested the expansion of a buffer zone in Sumy and Kharkov provinces to ensure the security of the bordering Belgorod and Kursk provinces.

During a visit to the headquarters of the Northern Group of Forces on 31/12, Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov announced that President Vladimir Putin had tasked the military with expanding a security buffer zone in Ukraine. The goal is to safeguard the bordering Belgorod and Kursk provinces in Russia. Gerasimov reported that Russian forces currently control 14 settlements in Kharkov province and 18 settlements in Sumy province, covering a total area of 950 km2.

Gerasimov stated that units of the Northern Group of Forces are advancing into enemy defenses. In December, Russian forces gained control of seven more settlements in these two provinces.

Location of Sumy and Kharkov provinces. Graphics: *RYV*.

President Putin assessed that the Russian military is successfully establishing a security buffer zone along the border in Sumy and Kharkov. He further requested the continued expansion of this area to ensure peaceful lives for residents of Belgorod and Kursk provinces.

Ukraine has not commented on this information.

President Putin stated in May that the Russian military was establishing a security buffer zone along the border with Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk provinces. This zone would encompass territories in Chernihiv, Sumy, and Kharkov provinces in northern and northeastern Ukraine.

According to Putin, this area needs to be large enough to prevent Western weaponry supplied to Ukraine from reaching the Russian border. One of the longest-range weapons currently transferred by the West to Ukraine is the Storm Shadow missile, which can strike targets from over 250 km.

Ukraine opposes Putin's declaration of a buffer zone, viewing it as a justification for deeper offensives into Ukrainian territory. President Volodymyr Zelensky affirmed that the Ukrainian military will resist in the provinces where Russia aims to establish a security buffer zone.