Russian ruler Vladimir Putin has informed his government officials via video link that a decision has been made to create a "security buffer zone" along the border with Ukraine.
Source: Kremlin-aligned Russian news agencies RIA Novosti and TASS
Quote from Putin: "I have already said that a decision has been made to create the necessary security buffer zone along the border [with Ukraine – ed.]."
Details: He said that Russian armed forces are currently working on this task.
Putin did not specify where exactly the Russians would be creating the "buffer zone".
On 26 April, Putin received a report that the last settlement in Russiaʼs Kursk Oblast, Gornal, had been "liberated from the Ukrainian Armed Forces".
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that the claims made by Russian senior representatives about the alleged end of hostilities in Russia’s Kursk Oblast were untrue.
On 21 May, Russian state-run news agencies claimed that Putin had supposedly visited Russia’s Kursk Oblast.
KeyLog256 on May 22nd, 2025 at 17:17 UTC »
He's said this before, multiple times, and it isn't "on the border with Ukraine" it is well inside Ukraine's own territory that Russia is illegally occupying.
Appropriate-Ball293 on May 22nd, 2025 at 17:13 UTC »
Putin has already threatened to create a “buffer zone” in Ukraine at least 8 (!) times.
▪️The first time this happened was on June 13, 2023. Then he said: if the Armed Forces of Ukraine shell the Russian Federation, a “sanitary zone” will be created; ▪️March 18, 2024 – says the same thing again; ▪️May 17, 2024 states that Russia is already creating a buffer zone in the Kharkiv region; ▪️May 28, 2024 again threatens with a “sanitary zone” – this time through long-range weapons; ▪️June 20, 2024 – says: a “sanitary zone” is supposedly being created in the Kharkiv region; ▪️January 31, 2024 – mentions the “demilitarized zone” (the essence is the same). ▪️March 12, 2025 – instructs to think about creating a security zone.
According to the head of the Central Military District, Kovalenko, now this is just a demonstration that Russia does not want to cease fire.
gunnergoz on May 22nd, 2025 at 16:50 UTC »
So he can't take the whole of Ukraine so he settles for taking what he can and hoping for the best...