Why does Russian President Putin want to create a 'buffer zone' in Ukraine?

President Putin told journalists on March 17 that a potential “buffer zone” could be created to prevent Kiev from shelling Russian territory with NATO weapons that Ukraine currently possesses.

Later in the day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov further clarified that the measure proposed by the Russian President was necessary to prevent the Kiev authorities' continued artillery and drone attacks on Russian residential areas and civilian facilities.

“They can only be secured by creating a certain corridor, a certain buffer zone so that any means that the enemy can use to attack are out of reach,” Mr. Peskov told reporters.

“It is necessary to distinguish between types of buffer zones. The first type is established as a result of a ceasefire agreement. The second type is established as a result of aggressive actions by one of the parties,” Sergei Poletaev, a Russian political analyst, told Sputnik.

“In our case, the second option seems more appropriate: this is when one of the parties organizes a military operation to ensure a certain security zone outside its borders, citing the fact that a threat comes from a neighboring country,” Poletaev said.

According to Poletaev, Russia tried to negotiate a kind of buffer zone with other members of the Normandy Four within the framework of the 2014 and 2015 Minsk Agreements to ensure the security of Donbass civilians amid Ukraine's “indiscriminate shelling” of the region.

“This is seen as a withdrawal of heavy weapons from the demarcation line. In the annex to the Minsk agreements, these areas are even drawn on the map,” the analyst said.

However, the Kiev government failed to comply with the agreements, while Western countries supporting Ukraine later admitted that they had used the Minsk Agreements as a pause to allow Ukraine to strengthen its military.

The depth of the buffer zone depends on the type of weapons the Ukrainian army will use, Poletaev added.

“If we are talking about artillery guns or artillery rockets, then this range is about 40-50 kilometers. Specifically, the most popular Western artillery system used by Ukraine is the M777. They have a range of 20 to 40 kilometers, depending on the type of ammunition used. The range of the Excalibur complex guided ammunition is more than 40 kilometers. Grad systems, including upgraded versions, or the Czech Vampir [RM-70] also have a range of up to 40 kilometers. That is the depth… That is, we are talking about depriving the enemy of the ability to massively shell Belgorod and other Russian border cities.”

However, the analyst also noted that the buffer zone would not prevent enemies from attacking Russian territory with drones and long-range missiles. Most recently, Ukraine has stepped up drone attacks on Russian facilities, while a leaked conversation between senior German officers revealed plans to use Taurus missiles against Russian civilian targets. The Taurus cruise missile has a range of up to 500 kilometers.

According to the same source, Russian President Putin mentioned establishing a buffer zone on June 13, 2023 to deal with Ukraine's incursions, attacks and shelling of Russian territory.

Specifically, President Putin said at a meeting with war correspondents covering Russia's special military operation: “The possibility of shelling our territory from Ukraine remains. Here are some solutions: first, increase the effectiveness of the anti-artillery fight. But this does not mean that there will be no missile attacks on our territory. But if this continues, then we will obviously have to consider the issue - and I say this very carefully - of creating a buffer zone on Ukrainian territory at such a distance that it will be impossible to reach our territory.”

At the time, Mr Putin noted that the Kremlin would have to see how the situation developed. As the Ukrainian attacks continued, Moscow appeared to be increasingly considering this option.