Russian forces are advancing in the Dnipropetrovsk region, trying to create a buffer zone there, Reuters reported, quoted by News.bg.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Moscow's forces have significantly increased the territory in Dnipropetrovsk that they control.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that one of the goals of the offensive in the Dnipropetrovsk region is precisely the creation of a buffer zone. Dnepropetrovsk is not one of the five regions of Ukraine that Russia has declared part of its own territory.
According to the US-based Institute for the Study of War, the aim of the Russian push in Dnepropetrovsk is to cut off Ukraine’s lines of communication and supply to its troops in the Donetsk region.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said over the weekend that the offensive in Dnepropetrovsk had earlier signaled that if Ukraine refused to accept the reality of Russia’s territorial gains in peace talks, then Moscow’s forces would advance further.
Russia and Ukraine resumed peace talks in Turkey in April without achieving a significant breakthrough. Russia has been advancing on the battlefield and shelling Ukraine daily. Kiev, meanwhile, carried out a daring operation deep inside Russia on June 1, severely damaging Moscow’s fleet of nuclear-capable strategic bombers.