Russia’s military chief Valery Gerasimov says Moscow plans to widen a buffer zone in Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkiv regions next year
Outlook News Desk
Curated by: Saher Hiba Khan
Updated on: 31 December 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to Russian Chief of General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov during a meeting with senior military officers at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
Summary of this article
Russia’s top general says Vladimir Putin has ordered expansion of a buffer zone inside Ukraine in 2026.
The planned expansion targets Ukraine’s northeastern regions of Sumy and Kharkiv near the Russian border.
Ukraine has rejected the buffer zone plan, calling it a justification for deeper Russian incursions.
Russia is moving ahead with plans to widen what it calls a buffer zone inside northeastern Ukraine, with President Vladimir Putin ordering its expansion in 2026, according to comments by the country’s top military officer reported on Wednesday.
Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said Russian forces were continuing to advance in northeastern Ukraine and that Putin had directed an expansion of the buffer zone next year in Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkiv regions, close to the Russian border. According to Reuters, Gerasimov made the remarks while inspecting the “North” troop grouping, as reported by Russian state news agency RIA.
The “North” grouping, established in early 2024, has been operating in northeastern Ukraine with the stated aim of creating a buffer along the border and forcing Ukrainian units to retreat further back, allowing for additional advances. Reuters reported that Russian military officials describe the effort as part of a broader push to secure border areas.
Gerasimov’s comments came shortly after Russia vowed to retaliate over what it claimed, without providing evidence, was an attempted attack on Putin’s residence. Kyiv rejected the allegation, saying it was intended to derail peace efforts as the conflict approaches its fourth year, Reuters reported.
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There was no immediate response from Ukrainian authorities to Gerasimov’s statements.
Putin has repeatedly framed the buffer zone as a defensive measure designed to push Ukrainian forces and weapons farther away from Russia’s border. He has cited cross-border shelling and drone attacks on Russian regions including Belgorod and Kursk as justification.
Ukraine has dismissed the concept, saying Moscow is using the buffer zone narrative to legitimise deeper incursions into its territory. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described Russia’s plans for Sumy and Kharkiv as “mad” and said Ukrainian forces would resist any attempt to seize or hold ground there.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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