Putin pushing “buffer zone” talk to distract from unrealistic war aims — military expert

Doctor of Historical Sciences and political analyst Vadym Denysenko shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

"We need to understand why this big push around 'buffer zones' is happening right now. The term itself started popping up back in 2023. But suddenly now, the Russians are talking about 'buffer zones' non-stop, especially after Vladimir Putin brought it up," Denysenko said.

He explained why Putin is choosing such language at this moment.

"Because it’s now the fourth year they’ve been repeating 'all the goals of the special military operation will be achieved' without saying what those goals are, and even the Russian audience is getting tired of it. But they also can’t say, 'Tomorrow we’ll take half of Ukraine, reach Dnipro,' or anything like that, because they know it’s completely unrealistic," Denysenko noted.

That’s why, according to him, Russians are now being “fed a piece of chewing gum” called “buffer zones.”

"And 'buffer zones' can mean whatever you want: they move five kilometers — great, it’s a 'buffer zone'; they push fifteen — that’s a 'buffer zone' too. So it's a euphemism that replaces — or works alongside — the phrase 'all goals of the special military operation will be achieved,' without setting real goals and without giving Russians any clear message," Denysenko emphasized.

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