Russia seizes Ukrainian border villages as its massive bombing campaign slows

By HANNA ARHIROVA and KATIE MARIE DAVIES Associated Press KYIV Ukraine AP Russian forces have taken four territory line villages in Ukraine s northeastern Sumy region a local official announced Tuesday days after Russian President Vladimir Putin explained he had issued an order to establish a buffer zone along the edge Sumy borders Russia s Kursk region where a surprise Ukrainian incursion last year captured a pocket of land in the first occupation of Russian territory since World War II Creating a buffer zone could help Russia prevent further Ukrainian cross-border attacks there Related Articles Nowadays in History May the Golden Gate Bridge opens Driver arrested after car plows into celebrating Liverpool fans Thousands of Israeli nationalists chant death to Arabs during annual procession through Jerusalem Russia sent a record number of drones into Ukraine as Trump says Putin has gone crazy In the present day in History May the World War II Dunkirk evacuation begins Meanwhile a Russian bombing campaign that had escalated in modern days slowed overnight as far fewer Russian drones targeted Ukrainian towns and cities Moscow s invasion has shown no signs of stopping despite months of intense U S -led efforts to secure a ceasefire and get traction for peace talks Since Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Turkey earlier this month for their first direct talks in three years a large prisoner exchange has been the only tangible outcome but negotiations have brought no notable breakthrough Between Friday and Sunday Russia launched around drones at Ukraine leaders explained amid a spate of large-scale bombardments On Sunday night Russia launched its biggest drone attack of the -year war against Ukraine firing drones From Monday to Tuesday Russia fired drones at Ukraine the Ukrainian air force explained Tuesday Russia s Ministry of Defense claimed its air defenses downed Ukrainian drones overnight over seven Russian regions The weekend surge in Russia s bombardments of Ukraine drew a rebuke from U S President Donald Trump who stated Putin had gone crazy That comment prompted a sharp Kremlin reaction Monday with spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticizing emotional reactions to events Peskov adopted a milder tone Tuesday hailing U S peace efforts and saying that the Americans and President Trump have taken a quite balanced approach In Sumy Russian forces are trying to advance deeper after capturing villages Oleh Hryhorov head of the Sumy regional military administration announced in a comment Ukrainian forces are endeavoring to hold the line he stated Residents of the captured villages were evacuated earlier and there is no immediate threat to civilians Hryhorov mentioned Putin visited the Kursk region last week for the first time since Moscow claimed last month that it drove Ukrainian forces out of the area where they captured land last August Kyiv officers have denied the claim The long limit remains vulnerable to Ukrainian incursions Putin mentioned He noted he narrated the Russian military to create a measure buffer zone along the perimeter but provided no constituents details of where the proposed zone would be or how far it would stretch Putin explained a year ago that a Russian offensive at the time aimed to create a buffer zone in Ukraine s northeastern Kharkiv region That could have helped protect Russia s Belgorod limit region where frequent Ukrainian attacks have embarrassed the Kremlin