Putin: No Current Plans to Liberate Kharkiv

Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that there are no current plans to liberate the city of Kharkiv. He stated that the operation of the Russian armed forces there is a response to the Ukrainian authorities due to the shelling of Russian regions. Putin linked the operation of the Russian armed forces in the Kharkiv direction to the creation of a buffer zone in response to the shelling by Ukrainian armed forces on areas within Russian territory, affirming that Russian forces are achieving daily success on this front.