Pavlo Lakiichuk, head of security programs at the Center for Global Studies Strategy XXI, stated this on Espreso TV."Putin's statements about creating a security zone in the area of responsibility of the North command in 2023 and 2025 do not differ at all. They are analogous and identical. When Gerasimov stands at attention and reports on the capture of Myrnohrad, Kupiansk, and Pokrovsk in July, and then in October talks about the encirclement of our troops in these cities, Putin doesn't even question these statements. If you believe their statements, they first captured these cities, then the Ukrainian Armed Forces drove them out, and they surrounded them again. That is, Putin has no questions about such statements; instead, he declares that they are great fellows and will continue to fight in Komsomolsk. The same goes for the security zone. This is a repetition of the same thesis. We saw what happened in 2024 and 2025, and, by the way, the response of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as well. All this indicates that the war is ending. Putin's hurdy-gurdy is spinning not even in a spiral, but in a circle," Lakiichuk said.The expert noted that for the first time in four years of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin admitted that they are waging a full-fledged war against Ukrainians."Their so-called 'special military operational tasks,' including diplomatic and military ones, remain for them. And even if Putin starts saying something differently, Peskov immediately runs in and says that their leader meant the full achievement of the 'special military operation' goals. The only thing I noticed in the change of Putin's rhetoric is that for all four years he kept repeating that Russia was not at war. He said this repeatedly. Now, speaking about Zelenskyy, he said that there were no elections in Ukraine, but they were able to hold presidential elections during the war, and he was allegedly re-elected. That is, he actually admitted that he is waging war against Ukraine," he added.On December 2, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin ordered the creation of a 'security zone' along the border with Ukraine, for which the North group is to be responsible.