Next up: Putin announced the creation of a buffer zone on the border with Ukraine
Russian troops are working to create a buffer security zone along the border of Russia and Ukraine. Vladimir Putin announced this on May 22 during a meeting with members of the government. The Head of State announced the development of a comprehensive rehabilitation program for border regions. Other topics were also discussed at the meeting, from tourism development to fire fighting. Vladimir Putin, in particular, instructed the authorities to pay special attention to the safety of children's recreation. The issue of benefits for the children of the participants of the SVO should also be under special control. For example, in Russian universities, more than 50,000 budget places have now been allocated for fighters and their family members.
Restoration of the border area
The President began the conversation with members of the Cabinet of Ministers by telling them about a working trip to the Kursk region that took place this week. He noted that he had met with volunteers, heads of municipalities and the leadership of the region. The main topic that Putin raised was the decision to create a buffer security zone along the border of Russia and Ukraine. According to the head of state, this task is now being solved by the Russian Armed Forces: "Enemy firing points are being actively suppressed, work is underway."
Almost always, such buffer zones are created as part of conflict resolution, political analyst Denis Denisov explained to Izvestia.
— The demarcation zones are needed in order to make it more difficult to resume the conflict and make military provocations less possible. I would like to understand the parameters of this buffer zone, based on this, we can draw conclusions about how effectively it will function," he said.
President Vladimir Putin talks with volunteers at the humanitarian headquarters in the Kursk region. May 20, 2025
According to Alexei Zhuravlev, first deputy head of the State Duma's defense committee, when creating such a zone, the range of foreign weapons supplied to Ukraine should first be taken into account.
— And if the American HIMARS hits at a distance of up to 150 km, then, for example, the European Storm Shadow missiles fly up to 500 km. And this is not only Sumy, Zaporizhia, Kherson and Kharkov, but also very close to Kiev," the parliamentarian suggested.
One way or another, already now, naturally, taking into account the situation in the Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk regions, it is necessary to expand work on the restoration and construction of all that was destroyed, the president continued.
— There are also common topics of concern to citizens. I would like to draw your attention to them once again: this, of course, is the restoration of housing, social and transport facilities, it is the payment of compensation for lost property, it is the support of displaced persons, those who were forced to leave their homes and now live in temporary accommodation, with relatives or rent housing," Putin added.
According to him, it is important to help people return to their native towns and villages where security conditions allow. In addition, it is necessary to restore transport and other infrastructure, sustainable operation of industrial and agricultural enterprises, and support entrepreneurs and their teams.
The President instructed the Ministry of Economic Development to prepare a comprehensive rehabilitation program for the affected areas of the Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions as soon as possible. According to the head of state, the program should be provided with the necessary financial and material resources, additional equipment and specialists, including from other regions of the Russian Federation, should be involved. Putin promised to consider this issue at a separate meeting.
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a videoconference meeting with members of the Russian government. May 22, 2025
Vyacheslav Gladkov, Governor of the Belgorod Region, spoke about the funds the region will need for reconstruction. Firstly, 3 billion rubles will be spent on the resettlement of four settlements in the Krasnoyaruzhsky district, which have suffered over the past two and a half months. Secondly, 2.3 billion will be spent on repairing damage to industrial and agricultural enterprises. Finally, another 1.1 billion rubles will be allocated for partial compensation of rental housing for people. The President asked his government colleagues to determine what needs to be responded to promptly and what needs to be included in the program he mentioned earlier.
The Governor of the Kursk region, Alexander Khinshtein, announced the preparation of a list of those facilities that are subject to restoration. It is currently under approval by the federal executive authorities.
— The damage to the region is very serious, and there is a lot of destruction in all directions. And agricultural land has suffered damage, and the sowing campaign in the affected regions has been disrupted. Of course, housing is the main problem," Olga Germanova, a State Duma deputy from the Kursk region, told Izvestia.
Development of tourism in the Russian Federation
Other topics were also discussed in detail at the meeting. For example, automobile tourism is actively developing in Russia. The number of such routes has more than doubled in a year.
—Last summer, only 35 automobile tour routes were posted on the national tourism portal, now there are 82 tour routes and 117 more are being worked out with the regions," said Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister of Economic Development.
82 routes are 27 thousand km. They are located on priority routes that lead to major cities and key points of attraction, and which are most often visited by tourists.
—On your instructions, we, together with colleagues from the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Natural Resources, are synchronizing plans for the repair and reconstruction of cultural heritage sites and for the development of tourism infrastructure in specially protected natural areas," he said.
The Ministry of Transport has identified 3,000 road sections that are in an abnormal condition, 1,700 km of them have already been included in the repair plan. There are about 70 km of blind spots along the four priority federal highways, where not a single operator works. "Colleagues promise to cover them with communications by the end of the year," the minister concluded.
On the eve of summer, the development of domestic tourism is of particular importance. In the first quarter of 2025, about 900 thousand foreign tourists visited Russia, and a third of them entered through the mechanisms of electronic visa and group visa-free travel, said Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko.
Domestic tourism is also developing dynamically: the number of trips around the country is growing every year, and last year there were over 90 million of them. Thus, the increase was almost 8%. The goal by 2030 is to reach 140 million tourist trips.
The issue of the tourist season in Anapa and Temryuk district is particularly acute — the beaches were severely damaged after the oil spill as a result of the wreck of the tankers Volgoneft-239 and Volgoneft-212 in December 2024. Chernyshenko assured that the season will take place: sanatoriums and hotels with swimming pools will work, and a large cultural program is being prepared.
Children's recreation and the Unified State Exam
The most important issue remains the organization of children's recreation. More than 40,000 camps for 6 million children will be open in Russia this summer, which is 200,000 more than last year. The government pays special attention to the recreation of the children of ITS participants — this is about 175 thousand children. Recreation for children from the Russian border region will also be provided at the proper level. By the way, Artek is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year: it will welcome 1.5 thousand children, including those from new regions.
— In the line of work of each [department], special attention should be paid to the safety of children's recreation. Safety in general, and children's recreation in the first place," Vladimir Putin pointed out.
The President, in particular, pointed to the situation with fires. "It is symbolic: in the east of the country, the Ogonyok children's recreation center has burned down. Therefore, it is necessary that we pay the closest attention to this," the head of the Russian Federation added.
The examination campaign starts on May 23rd, which is a particularly important stage in life for young people. Starting this year, a psychological support hotline will be available for graduates and their parents during the Unified State Exam. As noted by Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Education of the Russian Federation, starting in 2020, the average exam score is growing in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology, as well as the percentage of high-scoring students (who scored 80). In addition, the proportion of those who did not cross the threshold is decreasing. The Minister also elaborated on the brilliant results of Russian schoolchildren at international Olympiads, including in Brazil and Saudi Arabia. In 2025, Russian national teams have already won 37 medals at international competitions, including 26 gold medals. "It's really impressive," Vladimir Putin summed up. By the way, Kazan will soon host the qualifying stage of the national Abilimpix championship for veterans of the military.
After the Unified State Exam, on June 20, the admission campaign to universities in all regions of the country, as well as in branches abroad, will start. In 2025, more than 619,000 budget places have been installed, said Valery Falkov, head of the Ministry of Education and Science. The majority of government-funded jobs, which is more than 73%, are distributed among regions, including new regions of the country.
— The second question concerns quotas for participants in a special military operation and their children. I would like to ask you to pay attention to this," the president added.
A separate quota of at least 10% of the total budget places, that is, more than 50 thousand, has been determined for admission to universities of the participants of the SVO and their family members. Due to the peculiarities of school education in the Belgorod, Kursk and Bryansk regions, graduates will be able to pass both the Unified State Exam and internal entrance tests.
Meanwhile, the Online University Admission service is gaining popularity, in particular, due to the interest of international students. People from 180 countries want to enter Russian universities, Falkov noted. Now the superservice will also cover admission to master's and postgraduate studies. This year, universities in new regions of the Russian Federation will also join it.
Fire fighting and harvesting
As for forest fires, the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Alexander Kurenkov, said: almost 2.5 thousand foci have appeared on the territory of the Russian Federation, which is comparable to last year's figures. Their area is about 2.5 million hectares. And this is already 2.5 times higher than the values for the same period in 2024. The situation is most difficult in the Trans-Baikal Territory. Since the beginning of the year, 487 forest fires have been recorded there.
Aircraft, including Mi-8 helicopters with spillway devices and Il-76 and Be-200 aircraft, have been relocated to Chita to fight the fire. In Buryatia, on April 28, a fire spread to the village of Buy Belsky district, which is home to more than 500 people. It engulfed three residential buildings, but the Ministry of Emergency Situations was able to quickly localize and eliminate the fire. There are no casualties. In this regard, a state of emergency was introduced in the republic.
On May 10, a Mi-8 helicopter with a spillway device began extinguishing fires in Buryatia. Alexander Kozlov, Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation, assured that the authorized agencies are successfully coping with extinguishing fires, coordinating actions with the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut, in turn, said that about 135 million tons of grain were harvested in Russia last year. This is the fifth result in the country's history. Records were broken for oilseeds, vegetables and rice. This year, the acreage will increase by 1 million hectares to 84 million hectares. A small part of the crop was affected by the frosts. This is 5.7 thousand hectares of fruit trees, which accounted for 5% of the total area in the country.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
