President Vladimir Putin has disclosed that capturing the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv was not part of Russia’s current plan.
He stated that Russian forces advancing in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region were creating a “buffer zone” to protect Russian border regions
Speaking at a news conference in China, Putin said that Russia’s recent thrust into the Kharkiv region was a response to Ukrainian shelling of Russian border regions such as Belgorod.
“As for what is happening in the Kharkiv direction. This is also their (Ukraine’s) fault, because they shelled and continue, unfortunately, to shell residential neighbourhoods in the border areas, including Belgorod.
“Civilians are dying there. It’s obvious. They are shooting directly at the city centre, at residential areas. And I said publicly that if this continues, we will be forced to create a security zone, a buffer zone. That is what we are doing.”
Vladimir Putin
When asked if Russian forces planned to take control of nearby Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second biggest city, Putin remarked, “As for Kharkiv, there are no such plans as of today.”
Putin was also asked if Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s political legitimacy was becoming an issue due to the absence of plans to hold a presidential election in Ukraine at the moment.
To this, Putin replied that the matter was a question for Ukraine’s constitutional court and political system to decide.
However, he said that the question mattered to Russia because if and when it signed some kind of agreement with Ukraine in future about the war it wanted to be sure it was signing a deal with the right person.
“If it comes to signing documents, we should sign those documents in such a crucial area with the legitimate authorities,” Putin noted.
Martial law imposed after Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022 means Zelenskiy will not face an election when his term technically expires later this month, something he and Ukraine’s allies deem to be the right decision to take at a time of war.
Russia Forces Expand Combat Area In Kharkiv
However, Ukraine’s Army Chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Russian forces expanded the area of active combat by almost 70 km by launching their offensive in the Kharkiv region.
Syrskyi noted that Ukraine launched the offensive to force Ukraine to throw additional reserve brigades into fighting.
He added that he expected fighting to intensify as Kyiv troops are also preparing to defend in northern region of Sumy.
The Ukrainian military said on Friday that Ukrainian forces shot down all 20 drones Russia dispatched in an overnight attack.
The drones were shot down over the regions of Kharkiv, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Odesa and Mykolaiv.
Kharkiv City Mayor, Ihor Terekhov reported four explosions during the attack, writing on the Telegram messaging app that one of the strikes caused a fire.
Kharkiv’s Regional Governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said on Telegram that the attack damaged five buildings, one of them belonging to the district administration.
Russian forces have increasingly targeted Kharkiv region this spring, intensifying the aerial attacks and mounting a new offensive in the border areas forcing Kyiv’s outnumbered troops to try to hold the line on a new front.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the situation in Kharkiv has “stabilised” as of Friday.
“Today, our defence forces have stabilised the Russians where they are now. The deepest point of their advance is 10 km,” Zelenskiy told journalists.
