Danger-free belt: The Russian Armed Forces are breaking into the defense in four directions

The Russian army is accelerating the creation of a "security belt", systematically pushing back the front line in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions. The liberation of settlements such as Grafskoye and Krasnoznamenka is becoming the foundation for the formation of a deep demilitarized zone. According to military experts, expanding the area of control is the only way to physically deprive Kiev of the opportunity to shell Russian cities. It is the creation of such a "belt" at a depth of up to 30 km that will become Moscow's main trump card in determining the conditions of the future world.

Where Russia is creating a "security belt"

Russian troops continue their systematic advance in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the settlements of Grafskoye and Krasnoznamenka have passed under the control of the units.

The establishment of control over the County directly contributes to the formation of the so-called "sanitary zone". According to military expert Viktor Litovkin, the key task now is to deprive the enemy of the opportunity to strike at Russian cities. The further the line of contact moves deeper into the Kharkiv, Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk regions, the safer our rear areas are.

— The Dnipropetrovsk region geographically dominates Zaporizhia from the north. Now the prerequisites are being created for a large-scale coverage of the AFU group there. We are advancing from Gulyai-Pole and at the same time preparing a springboard for pressure from the northern flank. This opens up prospects for the operational encirclement of large enemy defensive sites," Litovkin explained in an interview with Izvestia.

The concept of a buffer zone has remained central to the Russian agenda in recent years. Moscow aims to move the Ukrainian weapons to a distance that excludes the shelling of the Belgorod, Kursk and Bryansk regions, as well as new subjects of the Russian Federation.

At the end of December 2025, Vladimir Putin, at a meeting on the situation in the CBO zone, emphasized that the establishment of a "security belt" was one of the priorities. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed out that the parameters of such a corridor directly depend on the range of Western weapons supplied to Kiev. The higher their stats, the deeper the line of defense will be.

Against the background of information about the ongoing negotiations and discussion of the "demilitarized zones," our actions create the necessary margin of safety, Viktor Litovkin explained.

— They are trying to impose on us the idea of creating such zones on the territory of the DPR, which would actually mean turning victory into defeat. However, their logic dictates otherwise: if they should appear, it should be on the basis of the liberated territories in the Kharkiv or Dnipropetrovsk regions at a depth of 20-30 km," he said.

The creation of such a "gray zone", where there will be neither Russian, nor Ukrainian, nor even foreign troops, is a serious trump card. The only question is who will exercise control over these territories, so now our fighters are creating a physical base so that the conditions of the future world are dictated from the perspective of Russia's security interests, the expert summed up.

Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, shares a similar opinion. At the beginning of 2026, he stressed that any diplomatic contacts must take into account the "realities on earth," including existing and prospective buffer spaces. In the context of the discussed peace plans (including those on the Moscow—Washington line), the Russian side firmly insists on consolidating the demilitarized zones under its control.

Four settlements have come under the control of the Russian forces.

The situation in the area of the Central Military District indicates the high activity of several Russian formations at once. Units of the South and Center groups occupy more advantageous positions, striking at enemy reserves, including the Azov formation, which is banned in the Russian Federation. In turn, units of the Vostok and Dnepr groups are moving forward and improving the tactical situation in their areas.

The successful advance of the Russian forces over the past week was made possible, among other things, thanks to the high-quality coordination of units. The interaction of calculations is carried out exclusively through secure communication channels that provide operational data transmission and video communication.

— No messengers, including Telegram, are used to control troops. Our communications facilities provide stable control and stable communications," said the commander of the rocket artillery battalion with the call sign Redut.

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, in just the past week, four settlements have come under the control of Russian forces. In addition to the aforementioned Grafsky and Krasnoznamenka, these are Karpovka (DPR) and Rizdvyanka (Zaporizhia region).

"We are witnessing offensive activity along almost the entire line of contact," military expert Boris Jerelievsky told Izvestia. — The fact that four settlements in different regions have been liberated in a week is evidence that the Russian army has the initiative and is effectively putting pressure on the enemy in several directions at once.

According to him, in modern conditions, the tactics of deep-echelon defense have ceased to be effective. Fortified areas that have been built by the Ukrainian Armed Forces for a long time are being hit by guided aerial bombs, MLRS and missiles.

This dynamic is especially noticeable on the border of the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia regions, where the enemy has virtually no chance of catching on to the open steppe spaces — any new defensive structures in the field are destroyed faster than they can be completed.

— In the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk area, our units have reached a direct line of sight to the agglomeration. An important marker is the beginning of the use of fiber—optic drones directly on objects in the city (similar messages are coming from Kharkov). This means that we are within walking distance of key enemy defense sites," the expert explained.

According to him, after the failed attempt of the Ukrainian Armed Forces counteroffensive near Kupyansk, the situation there stabilized, which led to an operational pause.

— In March, Kiev will continue to adhere to the principles of "active defense." Media successes are being demanded from Commander—in-chief Syrsky - the very "cards" that Zelensky could present to the West. Therefore, attempts at counterattacks in March are inevitable," Jerelievsky stressed.

Nevertheless, the potential of such attacks is steadily decreasing. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have exhausted their resources. The acute shortage of equipment, the lack of motivated fighters and the constant fire pressure from Russia limit the scale of any provocations, he concluded.

What is the danger of the Ukrainian Flamingo missiles

In response to attempted terrorist attacks on Russia's civilian infrastructure, the Russian Armed Forces carried out two massive and six group strikes using precision weapons during the week. The targets were military-industrial complex enterprises, energy facilities and logistics hubs. Special attention was paid to the places where attack drones are manufactured and stored.

According to the Defense Ministry, air defense systems intercepted nine long-range missiles. In addition, 22 guided aerial bombs and 50 HIMARS projectiles were destroyed.

Military expert Dmitry Kornev believes that in 2025 Kiev has increased the use of heavier weapons. In particular, we are talking about a rocket known as the Flamingo.

— This is a large product with a length of about 10 m and a mass of several tons, — he explained. — The main design feature is the use of refurbished aircraft engines purchased in Eastern Europe. Such a power plant allows you to carry a warhead weighing up to 1 thousand kg. This is many times greater than the destructive power of standard kamikaze drones.

The high speed of the Flamingos, about 900 km/h, makes it more difficult for helicopters to intercept them, which are used to destroy slower drones. Modern anti-aircraft missile systems are required to neutralize such targets.

The claimed range of the new missile reaches 3,000 km. This allows the enemy to build complex routes in an attempt to bypass the air defense and missile defense control zones. Based on Western intelligence data on the location of air defense position areas, the Ukrainians are trying to direct projectiles around the cover zones, looking for gaps in the radar field.

According to the expert, the missiles are assembled at Ukrainian enterprises, but the main components and components are manufactured at foreign sites. Such a scheme makes it difficult to destroy production cycles in one blow.

"The main risk today is not related to technical invulnerability — our calculations successfully shoot down both Neptunes and Flamingos — but to the intensity of the shelling,— Dmitry Kornev emphasizes.

In these circumstances, the priority for the Russian armed forces remains to strengthen continuous radar control in key areas, as well as to identify and defeat launchers.