May 17 (UPI) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said that Russia does not have plans to seize Kharkiv but instead seeks to establish a “buffer” zone in the northeastern Ukrainian region.
Asked about seizing Kharkiv, Putin said that “there are no such plans today” while placing the blame on Ukraine for fighting in the region, Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported.
“Now about what is happening in the Kharkiv direction, They are also to blame for that because they shelled and continue shelling, unfortunately, residential areas of borderline territories including Belgorod. Civilians are being killed there. It is all obvious. They are bombarding directly the center of the city and residential quarters,” Putin said.
He added this was the reason behind Moscow’s advance into the region.
“I have said publicly that if this continues, we’ll have to create a security buffer zone. This is what we are doing,” he said.
Ukraine forces withdrew from several villages and towns in the border Kharkiv province against a buoyed Russian offensive earlier this week. Kyiv officials said their troopers were moving to “more advantageous positions” after giving up Lukyantsi and Vovchansk in Kharkiv.
Also Friday, drone attacks knocked out power in the port city of Sevastopol in occupied Crimea during the early morning hours, striking an electrical substation that may take a day to repair.
Pro-Russian authorities said air defenses shot down more than 50 drones but debris from that caused the damage to the power station. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the appointed head of Sevastopol, said on social media that he ordered substation repairs.
“In connection with the current situation, I have decided to cancel classes in all schools, secondary vocational education institutions and kindergartens,” Razvozhayev said, according to the Kyiv Independent.
The Ukrainian news outlet Ukrinform said there were a series of blasts reported in the Dzhankoy district. Dzhankoy is the location of a military airfield that houses Russia’s Southern Military District’s helicopter regiment of the 4th Air Force and Air Defense Command.
No casualties were confirmed in either attack.
