Secret Raid By Ukrainian Armed Forces: Creating Buffer Zone In Belgorod Region

The Ukrainian military is changing the rules of the game on the border.

While official sources are keeping quiet, there is panic in Russian publics — the movement of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Belgorod region is discussed every day. Focus found out what is happening on this section of the front, and whether a new buffer zone is really being formed.

On March 18, 2025, The Economist correspondent Oliver Carroll reported that the Ukrainian military had carried out a daring raid several kilometers deep into the Belgorod region of Russia. According to him, Ukraine intends not only to strike at Russian military infrastructure, but also to create a security zone on the border, which should protect the Sumy and Kharkiv regions from future attacks.

The Ukrainian command has not officially confirmed this information, but some details of the successful operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are already appearing in Russian publics.

Russians complain that they cannot accurately understand the situation

For a week, Ukrainian defenders attacked Russian positions in the village of Demidovka in the Krasnoyarsk district using FPV drones and artillery, making it impossible for the Russian Armed Forces to hold their positions on the outskirts of the settlement. Russian units were forced to abandon their combat positions and leave the village, but the Ukrainian Armed Forces took control of the settlement. This was reported by a number of local Telegram channels on March 23, but neither the Ukrainian nor the Russian side has officially confirmed this information yet.

The information was confirmed by Russian military observer and blogger Vladimir Romanov. He confirmed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces took control of Demidovka.

According to Russian publics, it is now possible to get to Demidovka only through the Kursk region: in the path of the Russian Armed Forces is a bridge destroyed in the settlement of Grafovka in the Krasnoyarsk district.

Russian publics also report another destroyed bridge in the Belgorod region — in the village of Nadezhka in the Krasnoyaruz district. They claim that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are trying to isolate the combat zone in this way.

At the same time, Russians complain that they cannot accurately understand the situation on the front because the Ukrainian Armed Forces are conducting an operation in the Belgorod region in a complete “silence mode”, as was the case with the Kursk region. In the Russian public “Military Informant”, the authors write that Ukraine is “seriously determined” to create a new point of tension for the Russians instead of the lost positions in the Kursk region.

Breakthrough of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Belgorod region

Military analyst Oleh Zhdanov believes that the goal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is not to attack Belgorod, but to create a buffer security zone along the border. This is necessary to complicate the actions of Russian troops and reduce the threat to Ukrainian territories.

“Regarding the situation in the region — Demidovka came under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This is a strategically important position with commanding heights, to which the Russians find it difficult to bring up reserves due to the lack of convenient approaches. We are expanding the zone of control along the border, but we do not intend to move on Belgorod itself. At the moment, information about the battles is confirmed only by Russian military correspondents,” Zhdanov tells Focus.

The situation is so critical for the Russians that General Lapin has arrived in the region

The expert emphasizes that the Russians are forced to redeploy troops, in particular, elite units — marines and paratroopers. These are the most combat-ready units among those mobilized. The operation in the Belgorod Region is aimed at forcing the enemy to stretch its forces and reduce the pressure on other sections of the front.

“According to unconfirmed information, the situation is so critical for the Russians that the commander of the Leningrad Military District, General Lapin, has arrived in the region. They say that he came under fire and may have died. This once again underlines the seriousness of the Russian Federation's position in this direction,” the military analyst continues.

According to Zhdanov, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have not completed the operation in the Kursk region, and the General Staff of Ukraine is trying to determine a line on which to consolidate. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have occupied commanding heights, which complicates the offensive actions of the Russians. They have already withdrawn some troops from this direction, and now they do not have sufficient reserves to resume active military operations in the Kursk region.

“The Russian Federation is faced with a dilemma: where to withdraw troops from to reinforce the Belgorod and, possibly, Kursk direction. Most likely, reinforcements will be withdrawn from the Zaporizhzhya Front. They cannot leave other strategically important directions — Kupyansk-Lyman, Kramatorsk-Toretsk — because these are important logistical hubs.

In the Kherson direction, the Russians have already withdrawn so many troops that their attacks have been reduced to a minimum. In addition, they lost the ability to quickly cross the Dnipro due to the blowing up of the bridge and the activity of our FPV drones,” says Zhdanov.

Information pause tactics: what is happening in the Belgorod region

According to military analyst Dmytro Snegirev, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is using the tactics of an information pause. This made it possible, in particular, to conduct a successful counteroffensive in the Kursk region. But when there was a lot of talk about a counteroffensive in the Zaporizhzhia region, this led to tragic consequences. That is why a similar tactic is now being used — an almost complete lack of official information.

“When assessing the situation in the Belgorod region, one can rely on data from Russian publics and reports in their media. According to their information, the situation there is not in favor of Russian troops. The Ukrainian Defense Forces have certain tactical successes, in particular in the Krasnoyaruz district, near the village of Demidovka.

There is information about the advancement of Ukrainian troops in this direction, which expands the zone of presence of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At first, Russian sources reported that this could be a diversionary maneuver, but now the transfer of Russian reserves from the Kursk region to the Belgorod region has been confirmed. This indicates a change in the operational situation,” Snegiryov tells Focus.

It is worth noting that after the events in Kursk, the Belgorod operational-tactical grouping of up to 50,000 troops was created in the Belgorod region. But even under these conditions, the situation remains difficult for Russia.

The tactical initiative is now in the hands of Ukraine

It is also reported that the Ukrainian troops are actively using the tactics of mobile groups, which were previously successfully used during the counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, and then in Kursk. The analyst explains that this is a Western-style tactic, which involves the action of separate highly mobile units with the ability to penetrate deep into the enemy's rear to consolidate positions.

“In addition, the rear logistics of the occupation forces have been destroyed. In particular, a bridge was blown up near the settlement of Grafovka, which significantly complicates the supply of Russian units in the Belgorod region. Ukrainian media also report a successful operation by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, as a result of which four Russian helicopters were destroyed.

In general, the comprehensive measures are aimed at disrupting the logistics of Russian troops and reducing the activity of their aviation. Russians perceive the events in the Belgorod region not only as a military threat, but also as political pressure from Ukraine and the United States. Especially in the context of the negotiations between Russia and the United States in Saudi Arabia, where the possibility of a temporary truce for 30 days was discussed,” says Snegirev.

The expert emphasizes that the tactical initiative is now in the hands of Ukraine. According to Russian sources, Ukrainian troops broke through the engineering fortifications on the border — the “Zasechnaya Line” (or the so-called “Surovikin Line”), which consisted of anti-tank obstacles, minefields and other fortifications. Now Ukrainian troops continue to advance deep into the territory of the Russian Federation.

Ukraine is acting preemptively

According to Snegirev, the Russian authorities are forced to evacuate civilians not only from the combat zone, but also from the entire Krasnoyarsk region. This indicates the seriousness of the situation, because the Russian army is considering the possibility of further expanding military operations on its own territory.

In fact, a buffer zone is being created in the Belgorod region. This is a repeat of the successful scenario of the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Kursk region. The main task of the Ukrainian Defense Forces is to prevent the breakthrough of Russian troops from the Belgorod region to the territory of the Sumy and Kharkiv regions.

“These preventive strikes are a response to Putin's statements about the creation of a so-called “sanitary zone” in Ukraine, which would cover part of the Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions. Obviously, Russia will try to expand the theater of military operations, but Ukraine is acting preemptively,” the expert summarizes.

It is important to note that the Special Operations Forces, together with the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, the Missile Forces and artillery in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation destroyed two Russian Ka-52 helicopters and two Mi-8.

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