Russians call for assault on Kharkiv region, allegedly to prevent shelling of Belgorod — ISW

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported the information.

It noted that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said on January 9 that Russian troops would do everything possible to prevent shelling of Russia's Belgorod region by Ukraine.

Instead, Russian sources used these statements to create a "buffer zone" up to 15 kilometers deep in the Kharkiv region to keep Ukrainian MLRS and artillery away from the border with the Belgorod region.

Analysts observe that this is occurring despite the likely incapacity of the Russian military to carry out an operation to seize substantial territory in the Kharkiv region in the near future

"The Russian military is likely currently able to conduct only tactical-level actions into Kharkiv region from Belgorod region, which at most would serve as feints to draw and fix Ukrainian forces away from a possible Russian operational effort in the Kupyansk direction," the analysts added.

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