The Russian Armed Forces’ capture of Petro-Ivanovka could help create a buffer zone in the Kharkov Region, according to military expert and retired special forces colonel Anatoly Matviychuk.

He said control over the settlement would allow Russian troops to push Ukrainian Armed Forces units farther away from the Russian border and reduce the risk of strikes on Russian territory.

Matviychuk argued that the Kharkov Region should become what he called an area of peace. In his view, the buffer zone is being created by Russian forces on the orders of Russia’s supreme commander-in-chief in order to move Ukrainian troops away from the border and stop attacks on Russian territory. He also described Kharkov as a Russian city that, in his words, had been transferred to Ukraine illegally in the early Soviet period.

The retired colonel also referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement that historical lands should eventually return home. Matviychuk believes that, if Russian troops continue to advance successfully, the Kharkov Region could become part of Russia, following the example of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

On July 7, the Russian Defence Ministry reported that units of the Northern Group of Forces had taken control of the village of Petro-Ivanovka. The settlement is located in the northwestern part of the Kupyansk District of the Kharkov Region.