WW3 fears erupts as Russia eyes key NATO ally for the creation of new ‘buffer zone’ | World | News
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, suggested the possibility of establishing a “sanitary zone” near or within Poland.
“This is not the first time that President Putin has said that for a quiet life, our country will have to create a sanitary zone, within which the neo-Nazi regime will not be able to hit targets on the territory of Russia [including, of course, all the lands that have returned to our state],” Medvedev, a former Russian president and prime minister, said in a translated Telegram post.
Putin had initially justified his full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, as an effort to “denazify” the country – a claim widely rejected by Ukraine, the US, and regional experts, especially as Ukraine‘s President Volodymyr Zelensky is Jewish.
On Friday, Ukraine targeted fuel depots, oil facilities, and a power station in southwestern Russia and Crimea, the latter Ukrainian peninsula under Russian occupation since 2014.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced via Telegram that it had intercepted over 100 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on Thursday night.
This followed a Ukrainian missile strike on an airfield in Crimea, coming shortly after Russian forces made advances in northeastern Ukraine last week.
Medvedev further warned: “If this continues, the guaranteed sanitary zone will be somewhere on the border with Poland. Or already in Poland itself.”
On the same day, Putin reiterated that Russia‘s supposed aim in northeastern Ukraine is to establish a buffer zone to shield its citizens from attacks. He accused Ukraine of shelling residential neighbourhoods in border areas, including Belgorod, resulting in civilian casualties.
“If this continues, we will be forced to create a security zone, a buffer zone. That is what we are doing,” Putin said during a state visit to China. He clarified, however, that there are currently no plans to seize control of Kharkiv, Ukraine‘s second-largest city.
The suggestion of a potential incursion into Poland, a NATO member, raises significant concerns due to NATO’s Article 5, which mandates collective defense. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has already announced that he is leading collaborative efforts to develop a so-called “European Dome” to protect the skies of the continent from Russian attack.
An attack on one member is considered an attack on all 32 member states. Despite this, Putin asserted in December 2023 that Moscow has “no interest” in engaging in a conflict with NATO.
