2024-07-18 11:57:48
The Kremlin denied today that Russia’s offensive against Ukraine’s Kharkiv region had failed, although Russian President Vladimir Putin’s goal of creating a buffer zone there to prevent shelling of Russian territory appeared to have failed, AFP reported.
Russia announced yesterday that since July 23 it is restricting access to 14 cities in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine because of the Ukrainian shelling, despite the Russian offensive to stop it since May.
“No, this does not mean” that the Russian offensive has failed, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at his daily briefing.
“The operation is ongoing and will continue until its successful completion,” he pointed out.
According to Peskov, the measures announced yesterday in the Belgorod region do not mean failure, but the introduction of “new practices” to “guarantee the safety of the population”.
According to Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, two civilians were killed today in an attack by Ukrainian drones.
Their car was allegedly attacked by Ukrainian drones near the village of Tserkovni, 8 km from the border with Ukraine. This settlement is not among the 14 that have been subject to drastic access restrictions since July 23.
Although Russian forces have captured a number of settlements in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region since early May, they have never been able to create Vladimir Putin’s desired “security zone” or breach enemy defenses.
According to Kiev, Russia suffered heavy losses in its offensive.
Gladkov admitted yesterday the failure in creating a buffer zone. “We have already lost many civilians, we have many wounded and our task, of course, is to take maximum security measures,” he said.
According to local authorities, since February 2022, more than 200 people have died in the Belgorod region, and several hundred have been injured.
The unprecedented decision to limit access to populated areas in the region was made just a few weeks after the West allowed Ukraine, under certain conditions, to strike military targets on Russian territory with long-range Western weapons supplied to it, writes BTA.