Russian army commander announced Putin's order after Moscow accused Ukraine of attacking his residence with drones

Russia's highest-ranking general said on Wednesday that his forces were advancing in northeastern Ukraine and that President Vladimir Putin had ordered a 2026 expansion of the territory Moscow calls a “buffer zone,” Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday, citing Reuters.

General Valeri Gherasimov, the head of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, said that Putin ordered the expansion of the “buffer zone” next year in the Ukrainian regions of Sumy and Kharkiv, located near the border with Russia.

According to Russia's RIA news agency, Gherasimov made the comment after an inspection he conducted at the “North” troop group of the invasion forces.

This group, formed early last year, has been operating in northeastern Ukraine, aiming to create a buffer zone along the border and push back Ukrainian forces in the area to allow further advances.

Gerasimov's remarks come after Russia on Monday vowed retaliation for what it said, without providing evidence, was an attempted attack on Putin's residence, an allegation Kiev denied was aimed at undermining peace talks as the war nears its fourth year.

There was no immediate reaction from Ukraine to Gerasimov's statement.

Ukraine says that the “buffer zone” is just a pretext for the advance of the Russian army on its territory

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also said on Monday that “Russia will reconsider its negotiating position in response to the attack on Putin's residence. He stressed that Russia 'reserves the right to retaliate against Ukraine.'

US President Donald Trump confirmed that he had been briefed by Putin in a telephone conversation the same day about such an attack. “It's not good,” commented the leader of the White House.

Putin has repeatedly presented the “buffer zone” his top general has now spoken of as a way to push Ukrainian forces and weaponry further from the Russian border, citing cross-border bombing and drone strikes on regions such as Belgorod and Kursk.

Kiev has rejected the buffer zone idea promoted by Moscow, saying Russia is using it to justify deeper incursions into Ukrainian territory.

President Volodymyr Zelensky previously said Moscow's plans for the Sumy and Kharkiv regions were “crazy” and would be countered as Ukraine defends its regions.

Putin ordered his army to advance into southern Ukraine as well

General Gerasimov's new comments come after he reported to Putin on Monday that Russian forces were conducting an offensive along almost the entire line of contact with the Ukrainian army. Putin ordered his army earlier this week to press ahead with the campaign to capture southern Ukraine's Zaporizhia region and liberate “Novorossiya” after a Russian commander said Moscow's forces were within 15 kilometers of the region's largest city.

General Mikhail Teplinski, the commander of the Russian military group “Dnepr”, told Putin that Russian forces were approaching the city of Zaporozhye, a city that had a population of over 700,000 before the war.

The wider Zaporizhia region – of which Moscow controls about 75% – is one of four Ukrainian provinces Putin has claimed as part of Russia in 2022, a move denounced by Kiev and many Western countries as an illegal land grab.

“The (Russian) front-line units are located about 15 kilometers from the southern outskirts of the city of Zaporizhia,” Teplinski told Putin, who replied: “We understand and know that the enemy right in front of you has been preparing its defense for many years and we know how difficult the situation is there. However, you manage to carry out your tasks.”

The head of the Kremlin went on to tell Teplinski that he wanted even more. “In the near future, it is necessary to continue the offensive, together with the group from the east, to liberate Zaporozhye,” Putin said.