BEIJING, June 11. /TASS/. The Kiev regime is trying to create an illusion of the situation improving in its armed conflict with Russia in order to receive more support from the West, Cui Hongjian, a professor with the Academy of Regional and Global Governance with Beijing Foreign Studies University, said.

Commenting to the Global Times on information that a Ukrainian warplane allegedly struck a target in Russia’s Belgorod Region, the expert said that Ukraine's move is an attempt to demonstrate its "confidence" to the US and Europe in order to gain more support and assistance in the future.

"Ukraine's move aims to take advantage of this momentum in an attempt to turn the tide on the battlefield, because only in this way can it convey its so-called confidence to the US and Europe, and thereby try to obtain more weapons and support from them in the future," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

The Chinese political scientist noted that on the eve of a peace conference on Ukraine which will take place in Switzerland on June 15-16, Kiev is striving to "gain diplomatic leverage by creating some ‘improvement’ on the battlefield." In his opinion, Russia may respond to this with a "combination of diplomatic and military means."

On Sunday, Sky News reported that a Ukrainian Air Force (UAF) aircraft had struck a Russian target in the Belgorod Region for the first time ever. TASS cannot check the veracity of this claim, while the Russian Defense Ministry has not yet commented on it.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that Ukrainian strikes on borderline areas compel Moscow to consider the possibility of creating a "buffer zone" to eliminate threats to its security.