President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russian forces are working to establish a buffer zone on the country’s border with Ukraine, after he said after returning from the Kursk region in southern Russia.
Putin said via video link during the government meeting that the decision to establish the region has been made. He does not specify where the buffer will be or its size.
“Our troops are currently working on this task and are actively suppressing hostile shooting points, and this work is underway,” he said.
Putin also issued instructions for a comprehensive reconstruction plan for the war-affected southern Russian region, including Kursk, Bergorod and Bryansk. Ukrainian drone and artillery fires damaged these areas.
Putin had previously stated that the Kursk region had cleared Ukrainian troops after the invasion in August. He visited the area earlier this week.
He noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lied when he said Ukrainian troops were still holding a portion of Kursk and Bergorod.
Ukrainian drone waves destroy air traffic in Moscow
Earlier, Russian authorities said that Ukraine had bombed Moscow airspace with hundreds of combat drones since Tuesday night, despite 485 people being intercepted.
Drones keep capital and its surrounding areas on the edge. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the Moscow region had a particularly high drone volume, but it was also shot down in its southern region.
Military figures cannot be independently verified, but suggest almost continuous Ukrainian attacks. Despite the large number of drones deployed, the damage on the ground has been reportedly small.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported throughout the afternoon that the drone heading towards the capital was shot down.
According to the Russian Aviation Administration Rosaviatsiya, flights at Moscow Airport were repeatedly suspended overnight. Temporary takeoff and landing restrictions have become routine due to ongoing drone threats.
Authorities say about thirty flights have been postponed. In the afternoon, Rosaviatsiya once again imposed restrictions on several regional airports.
Governor Alexander Bogomaz said in the Bryansk Russian region, one person was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack and another injured. Andrei Klychkov, governor of the Oriel region south of Moscow, wrote in a telegram “a large-scale drone attack.” According to reports, the mobile Internet has been shut down.
A man killed in a Russian attack
Meanwhile, the Russian army launched its own wave of attacks on Ukraine. Military Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said an 85-year-old woman was killed in the Helsen area during Russian shelling.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia deployed an Iskander-M missile overnight, with a total of 128 drones and baits. Among them, 112 drones were intercepted. Dnipro, Donetsk, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv regions are targeted.
With the support of Western allies, Ukraine has been resisting the full-scale Russian invasion for more than three years. As part of its defense strategy, it strikes out military and infrastructure targets within Russia.
However, the scale of Ukrainian operations remains limited compared to the widespread damage caused by the Russian war.
President Vladimir Putin met with government members via video conference. – /kremlin/dpa
