Ukraine retakes territory as Russia’s buffer zone strategy falters, official says

The ISW assessed that Moscow might now have to abandon or considerably revise its deliberate operations in Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, or each.

On the identical time, Russia continues to be pressuring Ukraine elsewhere.

Requested Tuesday about elevated Russian exercise close to the Sumy border area in northeastern Ukraine, Zelenskyy informed reporters through a WhatsApp chat that Moscow nonetheless goals to determine a buffer zone there and in neighboring Kharkiv area — however that Ukrainian forces are holding the road.

“It’s no secret that they need to create a buffer zone within the Sumy area and within the Kharkiv area,” Zelenskyy stated. “However now we have not deserted our targets both. We’ve blocked them in all places. Subsequently, there aren’t any dangers within the Sumy area right now.”

He stated Ukrainian forces are intently monitoring the state of affairs alongside the border and defending settlements and infrastructure from Russian assaults, which he stated proceed to focus on civilian websites.

The good points come as Russia’s full-scale invasion drags into its fifth 12 months, with Moscow struggling to make vital advances regardless of committing giant numbers of troops to grinding assaults alongside the entrance.