Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, June 9, that the long-awaited Ukrainian counteroffensive had officially begun. Putin also argued that the counteroffensive started at a disadvantage, with Ukrainian forces experiencing “significant” losses – but just days later, the Russian leader threatened to establish a new “sanitary zone” in the country that could curtail Ukrainian troops’ ability to make fresh gains past the frontlines.
What Does He Mean?
Speaking on Tuesday, Putin suggested that he may order Russian troops to launch a new offensive designed to seize yet more land in Ukraine to make it harder for Ukrainian forces to not only push back the front lines but to launch more successful strikes on Russian territory.
The comments come just days after a drone struck a residential building in the city of Voronezh in the southwestern region of Russia, close to the Ukrainian border. While Kyiv denied responsibility for the strike, which caused significant damage to an apartment building, regional governor Alexander Gusev said that three residents were hurt in the strike, receiving medical care for wounds caused by shattered glass.
Speaking to Russia’s top military correspondents, the Russian president said that he would take steps to ensure that Ukraine cannot continue to strike inside of Russian territory.
“If this continues, we will be forced to consider the issue of creating a sanitary zone on the territory of Ukraine at such a distance that it will not be possible to attack Russia’s territory,” Putin said.
While the Russian leader did not elaborate on how he would achieve this, it’s hard to ignore the fact that the primary goal of the Russian military would barely change if he does take this dramatic action. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Putin aimed to take control of four regions of the country that he considers inextricable parts of the Russian Federation. The goal of establishing a “sanitary zone” in Ukraine would require Russia to make significant new gains into Ukrainian territory, which Russian forces have spent more than a year attempting to achieve already.
Putin may, therefore, may be considering directing his military officials to focus resources strategically on areas close to Russian territory – whether that’s the Russian mainland or the Crimean peninsula.
The Russian president also played down the possibility of implementing martial law in Russia as a result of recent Ukrainian strikes, promising that Russia would instead “work more carefully on some issues” and “expand the activities of special services.”
Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive’s Breaking News Editor. He is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
