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Miami Herald
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Putin Ally Shares Map Of ‘Buffer Zone' Covering All Of Ukraine
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has warned that Russia would end up occupying almost all of Ukraine if it continued to receive Western weapons, posting a map to illustrate his claim. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said that at the current rate of Moscow's advances in its full-scale invasion, it would take roughly a century to capture the territory Vladimir Putin's ally had proposed. Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment. Now deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, Medvedev had served as the country's head of state between 2008 and 2012 and posted fiery messages on social media threatening the West for its support of Ukraine. He and other Russian officials have repeatedly called for the establishment of buffer zones in northern Ukraine to place Russian cities out of the range of Ukraine's Western-provided long-range strike system. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Medvedev's latest statement is part of a Kremlin strategy to justify Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the long-term occupation of Ukrainian territory. In a post on Telegram, Medvedev referred to Moscow's disparaging term for the government in Kyiv by writing if "military aid to the Banderite regime continues, the buffer zone could look like this." Derived from the name of Ukrainian nationalist Stepan Bandera, the term is pejoratively used by the Kremlin against the government in Kyiv, to falsely paint it as having Nazi sympathies and as part of Moscow's rhetoric over its war aims to "denazify" the country it invaded. The text was next to an image which showed the whole of Ukraine under Moscow's occupation apart from a relatively small area of the Volyn and Lviv oblasts along Poland's border. Medvedev and Russian officials have called for Kyiv to concede occupied and unoccupied territory in the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, which Moscow claims to have annexed but does not fully control. The ISW cast doubt on the likelihood of it ever being able to capture this territory. However, the Washington, D.C. think tank said that given Russian forces have advanced an average of 5.5 square miles a day since in 2025, it would take nearly four years to capture the rest of the regions it has declared annexed. It would also take around 91 years to seize the entirety of the 226,819 square miles contained in Medvedev's proposed "buffer zone," it added. This time frame assumes Russia can maintain its current rate of advance and does not take into account geographic and defensive barriers. Russian forces have not seized a major urban area since the capture of Bakhmut in May, 2023. Meanwhile, the estimated 1,500 daily Russian casualties which current and former Western officials have told The Washington Post Moscow is facing, meant that Medvedev's proposal would result in 50 million casualties—over a third of the current Russian population, the ISW added. Deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev on Telegram: "If military aid to the Banderite regime continues, the buffer zone could look like this." Institute for the Study of War: "Russian forces would need roughly a century to seize Medvedev's proposed 'buffer zone' at their current rate of advance at the cost of nearly 50 million casualties at current loss rates." Putin said last week that a decision has been made to establish a security buffer zone along the Russia-Ukraine border. But the ISW noted how Russian forces have not shown they have not been able to conduct the rapid, multidirectional offensive operations needed to swiftly seize territory, suggesting that Medvedev's post was an idle threat. However, Kremlin rhetoric is likely to remain belligerent as the West wrangles over how to continue its military assistance to Kyiv. Related Articles Russia Sees $1 Billion Wiped off Stock Market After Trump's Putin CommentsUkrainian MiG-29 Fighter Jets Bomb Russian Special Services BaseChina Denies Ukraine's Russia Weapons ClaimRussian Bots Roast 'Clown' Donald Trump After Putin Comments 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Newsweek
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Putin Ally Shares Map Of 'Buffer Zone' Covering All Of Ukraine
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has warned that Russia would end up occupying almost all of Ukraine if it continued to receive Western weapons, posting a map to illustrate his claim. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said that at the current rate of Moscow's advances in its full-scale invasion, it would take roughly a century to capture the territory Vladimir Putin's ally had proposed. Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment. Former Russian President, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev is pictured on March 19, 2025, in Moscow, Russia. Former Russian President, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev is pictured on March 19, 2025, in Moscow, Russia. Getty Images Why It Matters Now deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, Medvedev had served as the country's head of state between 2008 and 2012 and posted fiery messages on social media threatening the West for its support of Ukraine. He and other Russian officials have repeatedly called for the establishment of buffer zones in northern Ukraine to place Russian cities out of the range of Ukraine's Western-provided long-range strike system. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Medvedev's latest statement is part of a Kremlin strategy to justify Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the long-term occupation of Ukrainian territory. What To Know In a post on Telegram, Medvedev referred to Moscow's disparaging term for the government in Kyiv by writing if "military aid to the Banderite regime continues, the buffer zone could look like this." Derived from the name of Ukrainian nationalist Stepan Bandera, the term is pejoratively used by the Kremlin against the government in Kyiv, to falsely paint it as having Nazi sympathies and as part of Moscow's rhetoric over its war aims to "denazify" the country it invaded. The text was next to an image which showed the whole of Ukraine under Moscow's occupation apart from a relatively small area of the Volyn and Lviv oblasts along Poland's border. Medvedev and Russian officials have called for Kyiv to concede occupied and unoccupied territory in the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, which Moscow claims to have annexed but does not fully control. If military aid to the Banderite regime continues, the buffer zone could look like this: — Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) May 25, 2025 The ISW cast doubt on the likelihood of it ever being able to capture this territory. However, the Washington, D.C. think tank said that given Russian forces have advanced an average of 5.5 square miles a day since in 2025, it would take nearly four years to capture the rest of the regions it has declared annexed. It would also take around 91 years to seize the entirety of the 226,819 square miles contained in Medvedev's proposed "buffer zone," it added. This time frame assumes Russia can maintain its current rate of advance and does not take into account geographic and defensive barriers. Russian forces have not seized a major urban area since the capture of Bakhmut in May, 2023. Meanwhile, the estimated 1,500 daily Russian casualties which current and former Western officials have told The Washington Post Moscow is facing, meant that Medvedev's proposal would result in 50 million casualties—over a third of the current Russian population, the ISW added. What People Are Saying Deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev on Telegram: "If military aid to the Banderite regime continues, the buffer zone could look like this." Institute for the Study of War: "Russian forces would need roughly a century to seize Medvedev's proposed 'buffer zone' at their current rate of advance at the cost of nearly 50 million casualties at current loss rates." What Happens Next Putin said last week that a decision has been made to establish a security buffer zone along the Russia-Ukraine border. But the ISW noted how Russian forces have not shown they have not been able to conduct the rapid, multidirectional offensive operations needed to swiftly seize territory, suggesting that Medvedev's post was an idle threat. However, Kremlin rhetoric is likely to remain belligerent as the West wrangles over how to continue its military assistance to Kyiv.
Mint
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Russia launches massive aerial assaults on Ukraine, defying Trump's peace calls
Russia stepped up missile-and-drone assaults on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and other regions, killing at least 12 people overnight into Sunday after President Trump last week declined to impose further sanctions on Moscow over its refusal to halt its invasion. Russia attacked with a total of 367 drones and missiles—one of the largest single-night raids of the war, according to the Ukrainian Air Force—in a second consecutive day of pounding strikes that sent civilians running for shelters in the middle of the night. Officials said that children were among those killed by the strikes and that a further 60 were injured and more than 80 residential buildings damaged across the country, even as more than 300 of the missiles and drones were shot down. President Volodymyr Zelensky called for more economic sanctions against Russia to force it to stop its invasion, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to do despite Trump's entreaties. 'Russia is dragging out this war and is continuing to kill on a daily basis," he said on social media. 'It can't be ignored. The silence of America, the silence of others in the world, only encourages Putin." The Russian Defense Ministry said its strikes had targeted Ukrainian military-production facilities. The ministry said it had downed 110 Ukrainian attack drones in regions across the west of Russia, including Moscow. Ukrainian officials said that their large-scale drone attacks on Russian targets in recent days have damaged several Russian military-industrial facilities, including a factory that makes parts for ballistic missiles. The increased ferocity of Russia's assaults comes days after Trump demurred on threats to sanction Russia further if it didn't sign an immediate, 30-day cease-fire. In a two-hour call with Trump last week, Putin refused a truce that Kyiv consented to in March. Trump has publicly insisted that Putin wants peace, but in a call with European leaders this week, conceded that Putin isn't ready for peace, The Wall Street Journal reported, because he believes he is winning. Zelensky said only pressure on the Kremlin would yield results. 'Resolve is important right now—the resolve of the United States, the resolve of European countries, of all those in the world that want peace," Zelensky said Sunday. 'The world knows all the weak points of the Russian economy. It is possible to stop the war, but only thanks to the necessary pressure on Russia." Ukraine countered the aerial assault with a combination of missile defense, Western-provided F-16 jet fighters and small drones used to intercept Russian strike drones, an Air Force spokesman said. Trump last week said that Ukraine and Russia should continue negotiations over a peace deal among themselves—talks that have so far yielded only one tangible result: a three-day exchange of around 1,000 prisoners from each side that concluded Sunday. Russia has confounded Trump's efforts to end the war, which it launched in February 2022, insisting that its original war goals of a neutered Ukraine under firm Russian influence be met even as its army struggles to advance in its neighbor's east. Write to James Marson at
Russia Today
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
EU state says ‘huge amount' of Ukraine aid ‘lost'
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has accused Ukraine of misappropriating a large part of financial aid provided by the European Union, pledging to raise the issue at a European Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday. Kiev has received billions from the EU and the US since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Several high-profile corruption cases have shaken the Ukrainian government over the past three years, and various reports have claimed that Ukrainian arms traffickers steal Western-provided weapons and sell them on the black market. 'We will reopen the issue of corruption in Ukraine in the European Council… the EU is pouring money in, and a huge part of it is simply being lost in Ukraine,' Fico said on Thursday, ahead of a special summit in Brussels centred on continued military aid for Ukraine and the bloc's defense. Last year, Transparency International ranked Ukraine 105th among 180 nations on its corruption perception index. Kiev claims that it has made great strides in tackling the problem. Earlier this week, Elon Musk, a top ally of US President Donald Trump, backed suggestions circulating on social media that Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky could be investigated for corruption after the conflict ends. Over the past few months, Zelensky has repeatedly stated that Kiev has not received even half of the money officially allocated by the US for weapons. In 2024, a report by the US Defense Department's Office of Inspector General revealed that the Pentagon was unable to fully account for over $1 billion worth of military aid to Kiev. There have also been instances where Ukrainian officials were implicated in misappropriating EU aid. In 2023, several major corruption schemes were uncovered involving military procurement. The EU is currently exploring alternatives to continue backing Ukraine militarily, despite the peace process recently initiated by the US and Russia. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday unveiled the 'ReArm Europe' initiative, an €800 billion ($866 billion) plan aimed at bolstering the EU's defense capabilities. Since being elected, President Trump has reversed Washington's policy on the Ukraine conflict, halting military aid and intelligence-sharing with Kiev, in order to pressure Zelensky to engage in the peace process.
