Russian army forces have captured four border regions in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, a local official said Tuesday in a post on Telegram app.
The capture of the villages came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the army would establish a buffer zone on the two countries’ border. Sumy region borders Russia’s Kursk region where Ukraine launched a large-scale cross-border incursion last year, capturing large swathes of territories. Russia in April announced the expulsion of Ukrainian troops from the region, while Kyiv denied these reports, claiming its forces were holding their positions in Kursk. Ukraine’s incursion last year marked the largest attack on Russian territory since the end of World War II.
The announcement of the “buffer zone” came days after Putin visited Kursk region and spoke about returning displaced residents to their homes and rebuilding infrastructure in the territory. Creating a buffer zone could help Russia prevent further Ukrainian cross-border attacks there.
Meanwhile, a Russian bombing campaign that had escalated in recent days slowed on Tuesday as far fewer Russian drones targeted Ukrainian towns and cities. The relative slowing down of Russian bombardments followed days of record number of Russian air raids across Ukraine, that resulted in the death of at least thirteen civilians.
