President Putin says Russia needs to expand 'demilitarized zone' in Ukraine
(Baonghean.vn) - Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on January 31 that his country needs to establish a large "demilitarized zone" in Ukraine, large enough to ensure that no long-range weapons can attack Russian cities.
Russia's border regions have been regularly hit by drone and missile attacks as well as artillery shelling by the Ukrainian military since the outbreak of conflict between Kiev and Moscow.
One of the most dangerous attacks took place on December 30, 2023, when Ukrainian forces attacked the Russian border city of Belgorod with multiple rocket launchers, including the RM-70 Vampire - a more upgraded version of the Soviet BM-21 Grad system.
President Putin stressed: “This (demilitarized) line must… be located at a distance from our territory sufficient to ensure the security (of Russian cities),” and specifically mentioned protecting Russian territory from “foreign-made long-range weapons that the Ukrainian authorities use to attack peaceful cities.”
According to President Putin, Russian forces fighting on the front lines are pushing Ukrainian troops away from Russia's borders to protect national security. The Russian leader affirmed: "This is the main task of our boys: to protect the homeland, to protect the people."
From the beginning, the “demilitarization” and “defascization” of Ukraine was considered the main goal of the Russian military operation. President Putin specifically mentioned the establishment of a demilitarized zone in Ukraine in June last year. At the time, the Russian president said that the zone could be established if Ukrainian forces continued to launch attacks on Russian cities. The goal, Mr. Putin argued, was to make it impossible for the Ukrainian army to “reach us.”
The US and its allies have been actively supplying Ukraine with heavy weapons throughout the conflict, from howitzers and various artillery pieces to multiple rocket launchers and missile systems. The list of Western-made long-range weapons in Kiev’s possession includes the British-made Storm Shadow missile with a range of 250 km and the US-made Army Combat Aircraft Missile System (ATACMS) with a range of up to 160 km.
Earlier this week, Politico reported that the Washington administration could provide Kiev with GLSDB long-range precision bombs designed for the mobile artillery rocket system (HIMARS), which also have a range of about 160 km./.
