After what the West are calling undemocratic elections in Russia, Putin aims to create a buffer zone inside Ukraine where he started his illegal war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow will not relent in its invasion of Ukraine. The Leader also stated plans to create a formal buffer zone to help protect against long-range Ukrainian strikes and cross-border raids.

Russian forces have made battlefield progress. This is as Kyiv’s troops struggle with a severe shortage of military resources to keep the battle going.

Key items such as artillery shells are running low which have exhausted frontline units after more than two years of war.

The frontline of the battlefield in Ukraine stretches over 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) across the eastern landscape towards the southern Ukraine border of Russia.

Advances to regain lost land to Russia have been slow and costly for Ukraine. With little resources to fight in the buffer area stolen by Russia, Kyiv increasingly uses its long-range firepower to attempt hits on oil refineries and depots deep inside Russia.

Noted are what Putin is calling militant groups claiming to be supporters of Ukraine against the Kremlin which have launched cross-border incursions into Russia.

“We will be forced at some point, when we consider it necessary, to create a certain ‘sanitary zone’ on the territories controlled by the Ukrainian government”

– Vladimir Putin, President of Russia

The security zone Putin is designing would make it difficult to penetrate using foreign-made strike assets at Ukraine’s disposal.

Russia and Europe

Putin made these statements shortly after what the West are calling “sham” elections. Election results showing over 85% support for Putin while securing him a fifth six-year term.

A landslide in an election devoid of any real opposition following his relentless crackdown on dissent including the presumed murder of Alexei Navalny.

2024 also marks the 10th anniversary of Russian seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula. A takeover which set the stage for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Certainly Putin did not envision for the Ukrainians to put up such a strong fight with little help from Europe. For this reason he has been vague about his goals in Ukraine since that full-scale invasion floundered.

Putin and NATO

Putin again threatened Europe and North American allies against deploying troops inside Ukraine. Which could possibly spark a greater conflict between Russia and NATO. A war between Russia and NATO would put the world “a step away” from World War III, Putin declared.

French President Emmanuel Macron recently stated amongst leaders of allied nations that sending Western troops into Ukraine should not be ruled out. Though Macron also concluded the current situation does not require sending troops at this time.

Putin reaffirmed his stance that Russia remains open to negotiations of peace with Ukraine. However the Russian leader also warned he won’t be lured into a truce that will allow Ukraine to rearm itself to keep battling.

Zelenskyy and Washington

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has apparently rejected any peace negotiations with Russia.

Zelenskyy also stated that Putin should be brought to trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin on war crime charges in 2023.

All this as crucial U.S. aid for Ukraine is being held up in Washington. Ukraine desperately needs the nearly US$50 billion aid package that would support acquisition of military provisions including artillery shells and a new air defence systems.

Washington leadership suggested to Zelenskyy that American aid in the form of a no-interest loan might get more more support from U.S. voters.

American lawmakers such as Senator Graham also denounced the result of Russia’s presidential election as “not legitimate” and said he wanted to introduce legislation in the U.S. that would deem Russia a state sponsor of terrorism.

Ukraine -Russia War Update

Ukraine’s air force confirmed they have intercepted 17 out of 22 Shahed drones launched by Russia over various regions of the country in the last round of strikes.

Russian military also fired five S-300/S-400 missiles at the Kharkiv region and two Kh-59 at the Sumy region, both in northeastern Ukraine.

The intensity of ground attacks and airstrikes has increased recently in the Sumy region of Ukraine. Which has prompted mass evacuations from one border villages to ensure safety of civilians.

Since the beginning of 2024, the region has been struck more than 3,000 times, after approxiamtely 8,000 strikes occurred in 2023.

The Ukrainian regional government stated the number of aerial bomb attacks has tripled this year while Russian saboteurs are highly active in the region.