DONETSK, April 27. /TASS/. A buffer zone has to be created in the Dnepropetrovsk Region in order to ensure security in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and liberate the Zaporozhye Region, Donetsk leader Denis Pushilin told TASS.

"Ensuring security in the Velikonovosyolkovsky District of the DRP and liberating the Zaporozhye Region requires expanding a buffer zone [in the Dnepropetrovsk Region]," he noted.

Russian troops are quickly expanding the buffer zone in the Dnepropetrovsk Region, creating threats for the Ukrainian army, Pushilin pointed out. "It’s not an easy task because enemy forces have come to understand the threats a rapid expansion of the buffer zone means for them. We moved fast at some stages but the process has slowed down and the enemy is trying to counterattack," the Donetsk leader said.

However, in his words, Russian forces remain in control of the situation.