As the New Year began, Vladimir Putin addressed Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine with a message of confidence and reassurance. Speaking from the far-eastern Kamchatka peninsula, he thanked troops for what he called their courage and told them that the country believes in them and in victory. He said millions of Russians were thinking of them and sent New Year greetings to fighters and commanders on the front lines.
Nearly four years into the war, the human cost has been immense, with estimates suggesting tens or even hundreds of thousands of soldiers killed or wounded on both sides. The date also marked 26 years since Putin first became president, following Boris Yeltsin’s resignation on New Year’s Eve in 1999.
At the same time, Russia’s top military officer, General Valery Gerasimov, said Russian forces would continue creating “buffer zones” inside Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkiv regions. He described the move as necessary to protect Russian border areas from Ukrainian attacks and claimed troops had taken control of dozens of settlements. Those claims could not be independently verified.
Ukraine has rejected the idea of buffer zones, calling them a cover for territorial seizure. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the plans as reckless and vowed that Ukraine would fight back. Despite the criticism, Putin has made clear that Russia intends to press on with the strategy into the new year.
