Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the immediate “partial mobilization” of Russian citizens in an escalation of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine and pledged to use “all means” to defend the country and its people.
“Our country also has various means of destruction and in some elements more modern than those of NATO countries and if the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and the people us. Putin said in a speech on Wednesday, signaling a possible new chapter in the months-long conflict.
The latest developments follow a major shift in Russia’s position following a sudden and successful Ukrainian offensive on most of occupied Kharkiv this month, which has galvanized Ukraine’s Western backers and prompted recriminations in Moscow.
Referring to the possibility of escalation and the use of nuclear weapons, Putin said “those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the prevailing winds can turn in their direction.”
Conducting a “partial mobilization” in the country was necessary in order to “protect our motherland, its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Russian leader said, and those efforts will begin on Wednesday with their decree already signed.
Mobilization would mean that civilians in the reserve and those with military experience would be subject to conscription, he added.
The announcement comes as Russia is believed to be facing manpower shortages and follows amendments to Russia’s military service law made on Tuesday that increase penalties for military service-related resistance or coercion for violating an official military order during period of conscription or martial law.
Putin described the ongoing fighting as part of a wider fight for Russian survival against a West whose aim is to “weaken, divide and ultimately destroy our country” – a statement that takes on more weight as several Russian-held Ukrainian regions hold referendums Many Kremlin-backed authorities in the occupied regions of eastern and southern Ukraine say they will hold referendums on formal membership in Russia this week.
“They already say directly that they were able to break up the Soviet Union in 1991, and now it’s time for Russia to split into a multitude of regions and regions that are fatally hostile to each other,” he said.
Referendums could pave the way for Russian annexation of the regions, allowing Moscow to label the ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive as an attack on Russia itself, thereby providing Moscow with a pretext to escalate its military response.
In a coordinated statement, the Russian-appointed leaders in the occupied regions of Kherson and Zaporizhia and the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic and Donetsk People’s Republic all said they planned to hold “votes” from September 23.
Together the four regions that have announced their plans for a referendum make up about 18% of Ukraine’s territory. Russia does not control any of the four in their entirety.
The expected referendums, which run counter to international law supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty, have been announced as world leaders descend on New York for a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, where the war and its aftermath have already ready to manifest big.
Ukraine has dismissed the announcement of referendums in the occupied territories as a “lie” stemming from “fear of defeat”, while the country’s Western backers have signaled they will not change their support for Ukraine.
The announcements received immediate support from Russian politicians. Former Russian president and deputy chairman of Russia’s National Security Council Dmitry Medvedev publicly endorsed referendums in the self-proclaimed Donbass republics, saying it would be of “tremendous importance” for the “systemic protection” of residents.
“Trespassing on Russian territory is a crime that allows you to use all self-defense forces,” Medvedev said on his Telegram channel, in an apparent allusion to the possibility of military escalation.
It is unclear what form an escalation could take, but concerns have been raised throughout the conflict about whether Russia would resort to using its nuclear stockpile in Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden voiced those concerns in an interview on 60 Minutes earlier this week when a reporter asked what he would tell the Russian leader about using chemical or tactical nuclear weapons.
“Do not. Don’t do it. Don’t do it. You’re going to change the face of war unlike anything since World War II,” Biden said, adding that the US response to such actions would be “consequential.”
Putin approved a new “deterrent” strategy in June 2020 that allowed for the use of nuclear weapons in response to a non-nuclear attack on Russia that threatened its existence.
On Tuesday, Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, amended the law on military service, toughening punishment for violating military service duties — such as desertion and desertion — according to the state-run TASS news agency.
The bill imposes a prison term of up to 15 years for resistance related to military service or coercion for disobeying an official military order, which includes force or the threat of force, during periods of conscription or martial law.
