MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. Kiev has long been attempting to shift combat operations onto Russian territory, which is why Russian forces have created buffer zones along the border, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"This is nothing new from Kiev. They’ve been pursuing this for quite some time," the Kremlin spokesman said, commenting on a statement by Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Alexander Syrsky calling for military operations to be moved into Russia.

"That’s exactly why our armed forces are taking all necessary measures to establish buffer zones and, more importantly, to eliminate the military and paramilitary infrastructure of the Ukrainian regime," Peskov added.

On May 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced at a government meeting that a decision had been made to create a buffer zone along the border with Ukraine. According to him, the Russian Armed Forces are already working to implement this plan.

A year earlier, during a visit to China, Putin highlighted ongoing shelling of Russian border regions from Ukrainian territory. At the time, he emphasized the need to establish a "sanitary zone" to protect Russian areas from Ukrainian attacks.