Putin Calls For Buffer Zone In Ukraine After Election Win

Russian President Vladimir Putin has raised the prospect of a more sustained offensive by his troops in Ukraine as he called for the establishment of a buffer or 'sanitary zone' that would limit Kyiv's ability to strike targets inside the Russian Federation. Speaking on 17 March at his campaign HQ following his re-election with 88.5% of the vote (derided by Western gov'ts as neither free nor fair), Putin stated “I do not exclude that, bearing in mind the tragic events taking place today, that we will be forced at some point, when we deem it appropriate, to create a certain ‘sanitary zone’ in the territories today under the Kyiv regime,”

• Earlier today, Kremlin spox Dmitri Peskov expanded on Putin's comments, saying that “[Russian territory] can only be secured by creating some kind of buffer zone so that any means that the enemy uses to strike us are out of range.”
• In response, Ukrainian presidential aid Mykhailo Podolyak wrote that, "This is ... a direct manifest statement that the war will only escalate.,"
• Ukraine has upped its strikes on key infrastructure targets deep inside Russian territory, many aimed at disrupting the countrys' hydrocarbon sector, using British, French, and American long-range missiles. A Russian effort to limit Ukraine's ability to strike deep into Russia would require a significant advance by Moscow's forces along the length of the frontlines. At present it is unclear whether Russia has the military resources to make such an advance.