Russia’s top general, Valery Gerasimov, has stated that Russian forces are advancing in northeastern Ukraine and that President Vladimir Putin has ordered the expansion of what Moscow refers to as a “neutral zone” in the area in 2026, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday.
According to the RIA news agency, Gerasimov said that Putin has ordered the expansion of the neutral zone next year in the Ukrainian regions of Sumy and Kharkiv, near the Russian border. He added that he had inspected the troop grouping known as “North.”
This grouping, formed in early 2024, has been operating in northeastern Ukraine with the aim of creating a buffer zone along the border and pushing back Ukrainian forces, as part of efforts to achieve further territorial advances.
Gerasimov’s remarks come after Russia pledged retaliation for what it claimed—without providing evidence—was an attempt to attack one of Putin’s residences. The allegation has been denied by Kyiv, which said such claims are intended to undermine peace talks, at a time when the war is approaching its fourth year.
Putin has repeatedly portrayed the neutral zone as a means of pushing Ukrainian forces and weapons farther away from Russia’s border, citing cross-border shelling and drone attacks in regions such as Belgorod and Kursk.
Kyiv, for its part, has rejected Moscow’s concept of a neutral zone, describing it as a pretext used by Russia to legitimize deeper incursions into Ukrainian territory.
