Politico quoted Palisa, deputy director of Zelensky's office, as saying that the Russian Federation's armed forces plan to complete the liberation of the Lugansk Republic and the Donetsk Republic in the autumn, and by the end of this year, they will establish a buffer zone in the Russian-Ukrainian border area. This buffer zone plan was launched near the end of the Kursk Battle. According to the plan, the Russian army will build a military buffer zone of dozens of kilometers in depth in Sumei Prefecture and Kharkiv Prefecture in Ukraine to ensure the absolute security of the border areas of Kursk and Belgorod Oblast in Russia.
On the eve of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict negotiations held in Turkey, Ukraine launched a large-scale drone attack on at least five strategic airports in Russia, causing huge military losses to Russia. As many as 13 strategic aircraft were destroyed, and the outside world estimated that the losses were as high as US$2 billion. Ukraine won this long-planned sneak attack, but it also completely angered Russia. In the subsequent concentrated counterattack, all major Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kiev, became targets of Russian strategic bombers and ballistic missiles.
Unlike in the past, Russia has implemented "beheading" Ukrainian officials and government agencies this time. According to video released by Ukraine, several government buildings in Kiev were attacked by missiles, and the Khlsong government building was completely destroyed by four giant aviation bombs projected by Su-34 bombers. The most intense battles took place in Kharkov and Sumei Prefectures. In the early morning of June 7, the Russian Air Force's long-range artillery launched 80 strikes on the city of Kharkov, without encountering any air defense interception. Kharkov is at risk of being surrounded by the outer fortress Kupiansk.
In the direction of Sumei, the Russian ground forces continued to expand their control range. As of the morning of June 7, the Russian offensive forces had approached Yunakifka, which was the gateway to Sumei City, the capital of Sumei Prefecture. At the end of the Battle of Kursk, the Ukrainian army drew 11 units of troops from Yunakifka fortress and supplemented them with preparations. The purpose is to prevent the Russian army from attacking Sumei. Today, the Russian army's siege and attack on Yunakivka means that the battle to defend Sume in Ukraine has begun. Ukrainian media reported that Russian Air Force fighter jets bombed Yunakifka and targets in the city of Samui.
Due to the lack of ammunition on ground air defense weapons, the Ukrainian army's limited counterattack is unlikely to pose a threat to Russian fighter jets. In a critical moment, the Ukrainian Air Force did not care about so much and sent the F-16 out to support Sumei. Unexpectedly, it taught the Russian Air Force a profound lesson. At noon on the 7th, the Ukrainian Air Force released a battle report saying that on the morning of June 7, 2025, Ukraine shot down a Russian Su-35 fighter jet in the direction of Kursk-Summey. At present, this is just unilateral news from Ukraine, and we still need to wait for confirmation from Russian sources.
