Vladimir Putin has announced a partial mobilization in Russia in a significant escalation that places the country’s population and economy on a war footing.
The president also threatened nuclear retaliation, saying Russia had “many weapons to respond” to what he called Western threats on Russian territory, adding that he was not bluffing. In a much-anticipated televised speech, Putin said the “partial mobilization” was a direct response to the dangers posed by the West, which “wants to destroy our country,” and claimed the West had tried to “turn the Ukrainian people into cannon fodder”. .
“Military service will apply only to citizens who are in the reserve, especially those who have served in the armed forces, have certain military professions and relevant experience,” Putin said. Shortly after the president’s announcement, the country’s Defense Minister, Sergey Xoigu, said 300,000 Russians “with previous military experience” would be called up. According to the decree signed by Putin on Wednesday, the contracts of soldiers fighting in Ukraine will be extended until the end of the partial mobilization period.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Putin’s decision to announce a partial mobilization was a “predictable step” that showed the war was not going according to the Kremlin’s plan.
Putin’s speech was also quickly condemned by Western leaders. German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said Russia’s decision to announce a partial mobilization was “another bad and wrong step by Russia”. British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said: “Putin’s breaking of his own promises not to mobilize parts of the population and the illegal annexation of parts of Ukraine are an admission that his invasion is failing”.
Putin’s decision to announce a partial mobilization sent shock waves across Russia. Since the start of the invasion on February 24, the Russian president has sought to shield his population from the grim realities of war, with the Kremlin keen to cultivate a sense of normalcy on the streets of Moscow and other major cities. But with the decision to announce a partial mobilization and the call-up of 300,000 Russians, most of them young, the war will now enter the homes of many families across the country.
Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anušauskas has said the country will put its rapid reaction force on high alert as the mobilization will also take place on its border with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs said the country would not offer refuge to Russians fleeing Moscow’s troop mobilization.
Putin also said that Russia will give its full support to the referendums announced for this weekend in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia to join the Russian Federation. He accused the West of starting a war against Russia in Ukraine in 2014. “In its aggressive anti-Russian policy, the West has crossed all lines,” the Russian president said.
The Russian authorities delegated to four occupied areas of Ukraine had announced on Tuesday their intention to hold referendums between September 23 and 27 on joining the Russian Federation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a video address released early Wednesday, said of the referendums: “Our position does not change based on this noise or any other announcement.” Kyiv said the “fake” referendums were meaningless and vowed to “remove” threats posed by Russia, saying its forces would continue to take territory regardless of what Moscow or its proxies announce. Zelenskiy will address the UN General Assembly via video link on Wednesday.
The White House rejected Russia’s plans to hold the referendums, adding that Moscow could be moving to recruit troops to those areas after suffering heavy losses on the battlefield. Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to President Joe Biden, called the referendums an affront to the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Several world leaders have said they will not recognize any referendum or further annexations of Ukrainian territory, with French President Emmanuel Macron calling the plan a “parody”.
Any referendum on joining Russia in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories would destroy any remaining window for talks between Kyiv and Moscow, Ukrainian publication Liga.net said on Tuesday, citing the Ukrainian president’s spokesman. “Without the referendums, there is still the slightest possibility of a diplomatic solution. After the referendums, no,” Liga.net quoted Serhiy Nykyforov as saying.
Earlier this week, Putin condemned what he described as America’s efforts to preserve its global dominance, saying they are doomed to failure. As he received credentials from foreign ambassadors in Moscow, Putin said: “The objective development towards a multipolar world faces resistance from those who try to preserve their hegemony in global affairs and control everything: America Latin, Europe, Asia and Africa”.
With Germany’s gas storage facilities at just over 90% of capacity, Robert Habeck, the economy minister, said Germany has “a good chance” of getting through the winter. Germany is making progress on its goal of having underground stores 95% full by early November.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said on Tuesday evening that its operations in Donetsk, near the towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivka, had caused Russia to suffer “significant losses”. But Russian forces shelled those towns and dozens more in northeastern and southern Ukraine, the general staff said.
US senators proposed on Tuesday that the Biden administration use secondary sanctions on international banks to strengthen the price cap that G7 countries plan to impose on Russian oil. Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat, and Pat Toomey, Republican, announced a framework for legislation to impose the secondary sanctions, which would target financial institutions involved in trade finance, insurance, reinsurance and oil brokerage and petroleum products from Russia sold at prices above the limit.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report