What is a 'Sanitary Zone' and How Could It be Created in Ukraine?
© Sputnik / Konstantin Mikhalchevsky
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Moscow could respond to Ukraine's incursions, sabotage attacks, and shelling of the Russian border regions by creating a "sanitary zone," Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with military journalists. What could the creation of a "sanitary zone" mean for Ukraine?
"The 'sanitary zone' is a demilitarization zone," Igor Korotchenko, military analyst, editor-in-chief of National Defense magazine, told Sputnik. "Formally, it will remain the territory of Ukraine, but either Russian Armed Forces will be present there, or strikes will be carried out so that no military infrastructure of Ukraine is present there. The main goal and tasks [related to the sanitary zone] are to prevent the shelling of Russian cities, towns and the death of the Russian civilian population. Here is what was meant."
On June 13, President Vladimir Putin met with war correspondents covering the Russian special military operation to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine. The president noted that if the Kiev regime proceeds with attacks against Russian citizens, Moscow would consider forming a "sanitary zone" in Ukraine for the sake of security.
"The possibility of shelling our territory from Ukraine remains in place," the president said. "Here are several solutions: first, bolstering the effectiveness of counter-battery struggle. But this does not mean that there won’t be missile strikes against our territory. But if this continues then we will apparently have to consider the issue - and I’m saying this very carefully - of creating a sanitary zone on Ukraine's territory at such a distance from where it could be impossible to reach our territory."
The Russian president emphasized that he did not mean that this work will start "tomorrow," adding that the Kremlin has to see how the situation develops.
What Do Russian Officials Say About a Sanitary Zone?
The line of the "sanitary zone" in Ukraine should run along the borders of Lvov, given the decisions of the West to supply Kiev with long-range missiles, according to Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council Dmitry Medvedev. "Such a line should run along the borders of Lvov (Polish Lemberg) in order to play a real defensive role," Medvedev stated on his Telegram account.
Moscow needs to push back the military infrastructure of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to ensure the security of the Russian regions, said presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on Vladimir Putin's statement about the possible creation of a sanitary zone.
"Shelling, bombing of the social infrastructure of civilians, civilian dwellings, and so on is carried out from the territory controlled by the Kiev regime," said Peskov. "As the Kiev regime acquires more complex and longer-range weapons, this military infrastructure should be removed at a 'sanitary distance.'"
It is too early to say how exactly Russia would create the sanitary zone, mentioned by the president, and who would control it, Andrey Kartapolov, head of the State Duma Defense Committee, told Sputnik.
Why Would a 'Sanitary Zone' in Ukraine Be Needed?
Ukraine is continuing to carry out attacks against Russia's newly admitted territories, including the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. The Kiev regime's forces are also conducting drone attacks targeting civilian infrastructure and military assets in other regions of the Russian Federation. Ukrainian saboteurs have also attempted incursions across the Russian southern border.
In particular, Ukrainian nationalists have heavily bombed Shebekino, the Belgorod Region, primarily targeting its infrastructure and civilians, and prompting people to flee from the town. Just 2,703 people remain in Shebekino, and 6,000 are now in temporary accommodation, according to the town's administration. Before the Kiev regime's indiscriminate shelling, roughly 40,000 people lived there.
"[Sanitary] zones are usually created when there is political will and military expediency," said Korotchenko. "Therefore, we do not start from any precedent. It is important for us to ensure our own national interests, which are to ensure that Russian cities, towns, and Russian citizens are not subjected to strikes by the Ukrainian Armed Forces."
According to the military expert the best solution is to create a so-called "sanitary zone" along the Dnepr River. Per him, it's "the maximum task" which could be accomplished with an increase in the number of staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
North Korean soldiers stand guard prior to a reunification rally in the border village of Panmunjom at the DMZ in North Korea, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015.
© AP Photo / Dita Alangkara
What are 'Sanitary Zone' Examples?
The concept of a sanitary, or buffer, or demilitarized zone has been repeatedly employed in international practice to ensure security amid an armistice.
For example, on July 27, 1953, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea inked an armistice agreement to establish a demilitarized zone (DMZ) along their shared border (248 km). The Korean DMZ is on average four kilometers wide. On both sides of the zone, there are minefields and significant groupings of troops.
After the Yom Kippur War (October 6, 1973 – October 25, 1973), the UN Security Council established a 75 km-long DMZ near the Golan Heights between Israel and Syria on May 31, 1974. Syria's Golan Heights were captured by Israel in 1967 in the aftermath of the Six Day War. The Syrian and Israeli armies were separated by a 400-square-km (155-square-mile) area in which the two countries' military forces were not permitted.
Israeli soldiers walk back from a position on the border with Syria on the Israeli controlled Golan Heights as smoke rises following explosions, Tuesday, July 16, 2013.
© AP Photo / Ariel Schalit
The Buffer Zone in Cyprus – a demilitarized zone that separates the Republic of Cyprus from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus – was created on August 16, 1974, after the end of hostilities between the two. The DMZ extends approximately 180 km across the island; while in some parts of old Nicosia, it is just 3.3 meters wide, in other areas its width reaches up to 7.4 km. The DMZ is restricted to the general public, with no Greek or Turkish Cypriots allowed inside.
On March 26, 1979, Cairo and Tel Aviv signed a peace treaty stipulating that the Sinai Peninsula – a land bridge that connects Israel and Egypt – became a buffer zone, following a series of fierce conflicts. The peninsula was divided into four zones, each with its own limitations on how many Egyptian and Israeli troops could be stationed there.
On April 3, 1991, after Operation Desert Storm, spearheaded by the United States, the UN Security Council created a DMZ along the border between Iraq and Kuwait. The zone was surrounded by barbed wire and has a length of 200 km. Until 2003, a UN mission was located in the DMZ.
When Could Ukraine 'Sanitary Zone' be Formed?
Prior to establishing a potential "sanitary" or "demilitarized" zone in Ukraine, Russia should solve a couple of major tasks, as per Igor Korotchenko.
"The first task is to successfully repulse the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that has begun. The second task is to completely liberate the territory of the Russian Federation, since today it is partially occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine," the military expert said referring to parts of the Donbass, Zaporozhye, and Kherson regions, which joined the Russian Federation following a series of referendums and which are currently partially occupied by the Ukrainian military.
"After we reach the line of the state border of the Russian Federation, which, in accordance with the Constitution, already includes four new subjects, after that it will be possible to say that a certain sanitary zone is being created," Korotchenko explained.
According to him, it would be a zone where neither units of the Ukrainian Army nor any means of delivering strikes on Russian territory would be located. What's more, "it is understood that it will be controlled, again, by the Russian Army," he underscored.
