(Updated: )
Residents in Russian regions along the Ukrainian border complain the area is increasingly uninhabitable due to the government's actions amid Moscow's attempt to establish a "buffer zone," according to a call intercepted by Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) and posted May 29.
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on May 22 that he ordered the military to begin creating a "security buffer zone" along the border of Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod oblasts.
In the call, a resident of Russia's Belgorod Oblast claims that authorities have cut off gas along the border. The speaker predicts mandatory evacuations will follow as living conditions worsen.
"Well, in short, it's clear that they're going to kick everyone out of the border areas and create a gray zone," the unidentified individual says.
"Gray zones" refer to areas along the border and front lines where there is contested or unclear control.
The resident speaking on the call anticipates that the area will become so heavily militarized it will be partitioned from the rest of the region.
"Let them make temporary settlements, zones, and that's it. They'll even fence it off with barbed wire," the resident says.
Russia's Belogorod Oblast, which borders Ukraine's Sumy, Kharkiv, and Luhansk oblasts, is regularly used as a staging area for Russian attacks on Ukrainian territory. Russian officials have also accused Kyiv of repeatedly launching strikes on the region and the city of Belgorod since the war began.
Ukraine launched a small-scale offensive in Belgorod Oblast in late March, marking Kyiv's second cross-border operation in Russian territory after the August 2024 Kursk incursion.
Russian forces are now reportedly amassing along the border in preparation for a possible offensive against Ukraine's Sumy Oblast, according to the State Border Guard Service.
Moscow has repeatedly indicated plans to create a buffer zone between Ukraine and Russia in the area.
Escalated violence along the Sumy border has triggered mass civilian evacuations, with tens of thousands of Ukrainians ordered to leave their homes.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
Independent journalism needs a community —
not a paywall.
We’re working hard to show the world the truth of Russia’s brutal war — and we’re keeping it free for everyone, because reliable information should be available to all.
Our goal: reach 20,000 members to prove independent journalism can survive without paywalls, billionaires, or compromise. Will you help us do it?
