Expert explains why Russia wants to establish a 15km deep buffer zone in Kharkov

Chuyên gia nêu lý do Nga muốn lập vùng đệm sâu 15km ở Kharkov - 1 — The Ukrainian city of Kharkov was attacked by missiles (Photo: Reuters).

Pravda news site reported on January 10 that Russia is calling on its military to find ways to create a "buffer zone" up to 15km deep in Kharkov province (Ukraine), pushing Ukrainian firepower as far away from the Russian border city of Belgorod as possible.

Belgorod is only about 25km from the Ukrainian border. This area has been the target of frequent artillery shelling or drone attacks believed to be linked to Ukraine since Moscow launched a military campaign in the neighboring country.

Most recently, on December 30, a raid on Belgorod left more than 20 people dead. Following this incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow would step up attacks on targets in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said on January 9 that the Russian military will do everything possible to prevent Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod.

Under increasing pressure from these cross-border attacks, Russia is seeking to establish a security buffer zone up to 15km deep in Kharkov (a neighboring province in Ukraine).

Russian nationalists also frequently called for a similar operation last summer amid widespread cross-border raids by pro-Ukrainian forces in Belgorod.

According to ISW, to establish a security buffer zone 15km deep and hundreds of kilometers wide, Russia would have to launch a large-scale campaign, requiring larger and better-equipped forces than the ones currently deployed on the border with Ukraine.

However, military analysts believe that it is difficult for Russia to conduct a campaign to control most of Kharkov territory in the near future.

ISW said Russia could step up its efforts to seize control of the town of Kupiansk in Kharkiv province in the coming weeks. According to ISW, Russian combat groups on the Kupiansk front appear to be well-equipped to conduct a more intense offensive.

The Russian army can now only carry out tactical operations in Kharkov to distract Ukraine's attention from the Kupiansk front.

Kupiansk is a strategic transport infrastructure stronghold, connecting the rail and road networks in northeastern Ukraine. Russia took control of Kupiansk at the very beginning of the war and turned it into a vital link between Russian territory and combat forces in Kharkov and Donbass. However, Russia had to withdraw from here by September 2022.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has entered its 23rd month and shows no signs of abating. Russia and Ukraine have stepped up long-range attacks on each other as fighting along the frontline has largely stalled.

Russia resumed a large-scale air campaign in late 2023 against targets across Ukraine to exhaust Kiev's air defenses amid a slowdown in aid flows from the West.

Source