Russia Considers ‘Buffer Zone’ With Ukraine Amid Persistent Cross-Border Attacks

Russia is thinking of the creation of a “buffer zone” along its border with northeastern Ukraine amid persistent cross-border attacks on its western Kursk and Belgorod regions. “I don’t rule out the possibility that we will be forced at some point … to create a ‘sanitary zone’ in the territories that are currently under the Kyiv regime,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said on March 18. Over the weekend, Mr. Putin secured another six-year presidential term in a three-day election that he won—not surprisingly—in a landslide. In remarks cited by Reuters, Mr. Putin, Russia’s de facto leader for almost 25 years, said the proposed “sanitary zone” should be large enough to prevent incursions by Western-made armaments into Russian territory....