Putin orders a partial mobilisation of Russia and warns the West about nuclear blackmail.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a partial military mobilisation on Wednesday, as Russian soldiers battled a Ukrainian counter-offensive that reclaimed some captured territory.

Putin stated in a televised address that the partial mobilisation of Russia's 2 million-strong military reserves was to defend Russia and its territories, stating that the West wants to destroy Russia and does not desire peace in Ukraine.


To safeguard the homeland and its sovereignty, he believes it is vital to support the General Staff's decision on partial mobilisation.


Putin reiterated his goal of "liberating" east Ukraine's Donbas industrial heartland region, saying that most people in the region did not want to return to what he dubbed Ukraine's "yoke."


Putin claimed that the West had used nuclear blackmail against Russia, but that Russia had "plenty of weapons to respond" and that he was not bluffing. 

Russia already considers Luhansk and Donetsk, which comprise the Donbas territory partially captured by Moscow in 2014, to be sovereign entities.


Ukraine and the West consider Russian-held territory in Ukraine to be illegally occupied.


After months of fierce combat, Russia currently controls over 60% of Donetsk and had conquered virtually all of Luhansk by July.


Those advances are now under jeopardy after Russian forces were ousted from neighbouring Kharkiv province earlier this month, losing control of their primary supply routes for much of the front lines in Donetsk and Luhansk.


Pro-Russian figures declared referendums for September 23-27 in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia provinces, comprising roughly 15% of Ukrainian territory, in an apparent concerted action on Tuesday. 

300,000 will be drafted as part of a partial mobilisation, according to the ministry.


Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has stated that President Putin's partial mobilisation directive will result in the mobilisation of 300,000 extra people to participate in Russia's military assault in Ukraine.


Shoigu said Russian state television that students and conscripts would not be called up, and that the majority of Russia's millions-strong reserves would not be drafted.

Ukraine claims that Russia's mobilisation was 'expected.'


In response to Russia's declaration, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said, "Russia's mobilisation was an expected measure that would be immensely unpopular and demonstrates that the war is not going according to Moscow's plan." 

Podolyak told Reuters in a text message that Russian President Vladimir Putin was attempting to shift blame for a "unprovoked war" and Russia's deteriorating economic status onto the West.


"Absolutely predictable appeal, which appears to be an attempt to rationalise their own failure," Podolyak said, providing Ukraine's presidential office's initial answer.


"The war is plainly not going as planned in Russia, requiring Putin to make incredibly unpopular moves to mobilise and severely restrict people's rights."