The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, said today that the goal of the Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region in Ukraine is to create a buffer zone, but not to conquer the capital of the region with the same name.
Putin told reporters in the Chinese city of Harbin, where he is visiting, that the attack by Russian forces on the Kharkiv region was a response to Ukrainian targeting of the Russian border region of Belgorod.
"I said publicly that if this continues, we will be forced to create a security, sanitary zone," he said.
Putin assessed that the Russian army "achieves results every day" in the battles in the Kharkiv region, that it is "progressing according to plan" and that for now Russia is not planning to occupy Kharkiv.
On May 9, Moscow launched a surprise offensive in the Kharkiv region and has already won the most territory in the last year and a half.
The Ministry of Defense of Russia announced that more than 100 Ukrainian drones that attacked the southwest of Russian territory and the Crimean peninsula were destroyed or intercepted last night.
The ministry said the military destroyed 51 drones sent to Crimea, 44 over the Krasnodar region, six over the Belgorod region and one over the Kursk region, as well as destroying six automatic vessels in the Black Sea.
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