The Kremlin says its plan to create a ‘buffer zone’ on Ukrainian territory hasn’t failed. So why does Russia’s Belgorod region keep coming under fire?

Russia’s Belgorod region has been coming under fire practically since the beginning of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — and the shelling and drone attacks have only intensified over time. Four months ago, Vladimir Putin called for the region to be protected by a new “buffer zone” on Ukrainian territory, and in May, Russian troops began a new offensive in the Kharkiv region with the aim of seizing territory for this purpose. But the Belgorod region has continued to come under fire, and on Tuesday, its governor announced that entry to 14 border villages would be restricted — effectively creating a “buffer zone” on Russian territory. Nonetheless, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has insisted that the plan to create such a zone in Ukraine hasn’t failed and is still in progress.

One of the first measures Mayor Vyacheslav Gladkov took in response to the attacks by Ukrainian forces on Russia’s Belgorod region was to distribute fire extinguishers to border village residents so they could put out fires sparked by drone attacks. The authorities purchased about 5,000 fire extinguishers for this initiative. According to Gladkov, rescue workers from the Emergency Situations Ministry are often unable to reach fire sites quickly due to the risk of continued strikes. Some residents criticized the measure as a “mockery,” but Gladkov insisted it was villagers themselves who had asked for the devices.

The villages in Russia’s Belgorod region that border Ukraine have regularly come under attack almost since the war began — sometimes multiple times a day. The most heavily affected areas have been in the Grayvoron and Shebekino districts. On July 11, for example, a Ukrainian drone dropped an explosive device into the courtyard of an apartment building, injuring five children. In March 2024, Grayvoron residents launched a petition in which they described the town as “practically destroyed” and asked Vladimir Putin not to abandon it.

Citizens evacuated from the targeted villages are sent to live in temporary accommodation centers. On July 15, Governor Gladkov said that about 2,500 people were living in these shelters: 1,500 in the Belgorod region and the rest in various other regions in western Russia. Some children from the Belgorod region have also been sent to summer camps.

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Belgorod city, the regional capital, also regularly comes under attack, and its residents have complained about a shortage of bomb shelters. Moreover, residents have to worry about Russian planes accidentally dropping bombs on their way to bomb Ukraine. The Washington Post, citing a document from the Belgorod Emergency Situations Ministry obtained by Ukrainian intelligence, reported that between April 2023 and April 2024, Russian troops dropped 38 bombs on the Belgorod region. At least 200 civilians were killed in the Belgorod region between the start of the full-scale war and July 2024, and more than 1,100 have been injured by attacks.

In March 2024, Vladimir Putin said that to protect Russia’s border territories from Ukrainian attacks, a “buffer zone” needed to be created on territories “currently controlled by the Ukrainian authorities.” In May, Russian troops launched a new offensive in the Kharkiv region, and one week later, Putin said that the operation’s goal was to create the “buffer zone” he had called for. “They’re firing directly at the center of the city [Belgorod], at residential areas. And I’ve said publicly that if this continues, we’ll be forced to create a safety zone, a buffer zone. And that’s what we’re doing,” he said. On July 10, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “work in this direction is being carried out,” but that it would take time.

Six days later, Gladkov announced entry restrictions in 14 villages in the Belgorod region “where the operational situation is extremely difficult.” Under the new policy, he said, only adult men will be allowed to enter, and they must be “in an armored vehicle with electronic warfare equipment, wearing personal protective gear, and accompanied by military personnel and municipal officials.” The list of restricted villages includes ones in the Shebekino, Grayvoron, and Belgorod districts.

The following day, Peskov said that the village closures in the Belgorod region do not mean Russia’s bid to create a buffer zone in the Kharkiv region has failed. “This operation is ongoing, and it will continue until it’s been successfully completed. In the meantime, while it hasn’t been finished, the barbaric attacks by the Kyiv regime on civilian infrastructure continue,” Peskov said.