UKRAINE, JAN 10 — Calls to conduct a large-scale offensive in Kharkiv oblast to create a “buffer zone” with Belgorod oblast once again started to circulate in Russia. The Institute for the Study of War talks about it in their report.
On January 9, Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov claimed that “Russia must prevent Ukrainian attacks on the Belgorod region.” Russian sources used his words to call for creation of a “buffer zone” of 15 km in depth to throw the Ukrainian army away from the border.
The ISW’s analysts believe the Russian army is currently incapable of conducting an offensive this large, though.
They write, “The Russian military is likely currently able to conduct only tactical-level actions into Kharkiv Oblast from Belgorod Oblast, which at most would serve as feints to draw and fix Ukrainian forces away from a possible Russian operational effort in the Kupiansk direction.”
Read more: Armed Forces See No Threat of a Russian Offensive on Kharkiv
The ISW also notes that the Russian army might intensify efforts to seize Kupiansk in the following weeks. They add: the Russian military grouping on the axis “appears more well-suited to conduct an intensified offensive effort than elsewhere in Ukraine or along the international border.”
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