Russia on Wednesday announced an immediate partial mobilization of 300,000 reservists and threatened to deploy nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine.
In a pre-recorded address broadcast on state TV, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was calling up reservists to aid in Russia’s war against Ukraine, but did not implement a general conscription drive for now. He added that, in the first instance, reservists with training and experience would be called to join up.
Putin’s strategy allows him to duck the explosive political fallout of more prosperous families in Moscow and St Petersburg having to send children with no military experience to fight on the front lines.
Making false claims about supposed NATO nuclear threats against Russia and claiming to be at war with the collective West, which is trying to “weaken, divide and destroy” Russia, Putin boasted of Moscow’s superior nuclear arms.
“To defend Russia and our people, we doubtlessly will use all resources at our disposal,” Putin said. “This is not a bluff.”
Putin also said Russia would “do everything to provide a safe environment” for Kremlin-installed proxies in four Ukrainian regions that on Tuesday pledged to hold referendums this week to join the Russian Federation.
On Tuesday, Russia’s proxy states in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Luhansk (LPR) and Donetsk (DPR), declared they would imminently hold referendums on being recognized as part of Russia....
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