Putin: Buffer Zone Creation Near Ukraine Proceeding as Planned

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the formation of a security buffer zone in the border areas with Ukraine is proceeding as planned. “The formation of a security buffer zone in the Kharkiv, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk areas of Ukraine is going according to plan,” Putin said during a meeting held at a temporary command post for the joint group of forces. Putin stated that the greater the Ukrainian efforts to attack civilian facilities in Russia, the greater the efforts Russia must make to protect these facilities and civilians. He added that “the more such attempts are made by the enemy, the wider the security buffer zone we must create in the adjacent territory.”