Russian armed forces are creating a “security buffer zone” along the border between Russia and Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

President Vladimir Putin visited Russia's Kursk region for the first time since Moscow said that it drove out Ukrainian forces from the area last month, the Kremlin said Wednesday. Putin visited the region bordering Ukraine the previous day,

The Russian leader traveled to the region in the west of the country where a surprise incursion last year embarrassed Moscow.