Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to automatically expand the security buffer zone in the Kharkiv and Sumy axes if Ukrainian forces continue to target Russian cities and infrastructure near the border, in a warning to carry direct messages on the ground about the shape of future military operations.

In an official speech broadcast on Friday, Putin said the expansion of this region was not a political option but an "inevitable defensive response" to protect border areas such as Belgorod, holding Kyiv and its Western allies fully responsible for losing more territory if the attacks continued.

The Russian president pointed out that the depth of the buffer zone will not be fixed, but will expand in proportion to the range of Western weapons supplied to Ukraine and used to bombard Russian depth, a clear indication that Moscow links military geography to Kyiv's missile capabilities.

Putin's remarks coincided with an intense Russian ground escalation on the Kharkov and Sumy axes, in an attempt to impose a new reality on the ground that pushes Ukrainian artillery farther into the lines, amid ongoing battles along the northeastern front.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the establishment of a security belt is an essential part of the Russian army's work to accomplish its tasks in the special military operations area, noting that Russia is working to establish this zone in Kharkiv and Sumy in light of the ongoing attacks on Russian territory.

This comes at a time when Ukrainian attacks with drones and missiles are escalating on Russian depths, with the Russian Ministry of Defense earlier announcing that 121 Ukrainian drones were shot down in 14 hours, in an indication of the intensification of strikes on Russian territory.

Kyiv responds sharply: We will not submit to Moscow's blackmail

The Ukrainian presidential adviser stressed that his country will not back down from targeting military installations inside Russia, and will not submit to what he described as "political and field blackmail," stressing that Western capitals have given Kyiv a full green light to continue striking Russian depth in defense of Ukrainian cities.

The Ukrainian presidency stressed that targeting Russian air bases, ammunition depots and oil refineries is a "legitimate right" to protect civilians from daily shelling, considering that Moscow is trying to create political propaganda by talking about a "buffer zone" to cover up its failure on the ground in Kharkov and Sumy.

In the same context, the Ukrainian military command said that Russian forces suffered heavy losses on the battle axes and did not succeed in achieving any strategic breach, stressing that Kyiv will continue its offensive operations inside Russian territory as long as the strikes on Ukrainian cities continue.

Ukraine has used the recent escalation to demand that it be equipped with advanced air defense systems such as the Patriot and that restrictions on the use of long-range missiles be lifted to hit Russian launch pads in depth.

The Western position is changing

The White House and the US Department of Defense have confirmed that Ukraine is now capable of using ATACMS missiles and other US weapons to strike Russian air bases, command centers and launch pads, especially those from which the attacks on Kharkov and Sumy are launched.

The US administration stressed that these strikes should remain limited to direct military targets, with a complete ban on targeting any civilian facilities, reflecting a clear strategic shift in US and Western policy while giving Ukraine a full green light to use Western long-range weapons to target military sites inside Russia, after years of strict geographical restrictions that have been preventing this type of strike.

NATO and the European Union have declared that international law gives Ukraine the right to self-defense, including striking military targets within the territory of the aggressor state.

Countries such as France and the United Kingdom have gone on to allow the use of Storm Shadow/Scalp missiles to strike deep into Russian air bases, while Germany has begun to gradually lift restrictions on the use of its weapons in the border areas around Kharkiv.

This Western shift reflects a growing conviction that Ukraine's ability to respond deep inside Russia has become an essential part of the deterrence equation, in light of the ongoing escalation on the northeastern front.