In a speech to his nation that NATO also criticized for “dangerous and reckless nuclear rhetoric”, the Russian president announced a “partial mobilization” ahead of votes in four occupied regions of Ukraine to join Russia. Moscow did not give an official figure for the newly mobilized troops, but they are estimated to significantly boost the number of Russian forces on the ground in Ukraine, which Western officials have previously estimated at between 150,000 and 190,000. More than six months since Putin first sent troops into Ukraine in late February, he has framed the war as an existential struggle for Russia’s survival against what he described as a hostile West. In his televised speech on Wednesday, the president claimed that such countries wanted to “weaken, divide and destroy Russia” and threatened to use nuclear weapons if Ukraine continued its aggressive operations. He accused the West of using “nuclear blackmail” against his country and vowed: “If its territorial integrity is threatened, Russia will use all means at its disposal. This is not a bluff.” Putin said Russia would “use all the means at our disposal to defend the country and the people” – raising the threat that the Kremlin would develop nuclear weapons if rejected.

“This is dangerous and reckless nuclear rhetoric,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. “It is not new as he has done it many times in the past. He knows very well that a nuclear war should never be fought and cannot be won, and it will have unprecedented consequences for Russia. . . He miscalculated, he made a big strategic mistake and that’s why now they have to do this.” Other Western officials have also portrayed the rapid annexation plan and the partial mobilization of Russian society as a sign of Putin’s weakness. They added that allies who have provided billions of dollars in arms to Ukraine to defend against a Russian invasion would continue to do so as Kyiv sought to free more territory in the east of the country currently held by Russian forces. “Fake referendums and mobilization are signs of weakness, of Russian failure,” Bridget Brink, the US ambassador to Ukraine, said in response to Putin’s announcement. “The United States will never recognize Russia’s claim to allegedly annexed Ukrainian territory, and we will continue to stand by Ukraine for as long as necessary.” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, in a taped statement broadcast after Putin’s announcement, said Moscow would only call up reserves, rather than deploy the army. This will add 300,000 people to Russia’s fighting force, he said. Shoigu said these are people who have served in the past, have combat experience and have some military expertise that the armed forces need. “These are not people who have never seen or heard anything about the military,” he said. “Let me preempt questions. We are not talking about mobilizing any student. . . They can calmly continue going to class,” Shoigu said. He argued that after calling up the reserves, Russia would still only have used up 1 percent of its mobilization potential. Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, posted a photo of the battlefield on his Telegram channel after Putin’s speech. “We continue our work,” the post read. Zelensky is scheduled to address the UN General Assembly via video link on Wednesday. Russia appeared to recognize that advanced Western weapons, such as the US Himars missile launcher system, were beginning to turn the tide on the battlefield. “We are not at war with Ukraine, but with the collective West,” Shoigu said in an interview on state television. Russia’s invasion has backfired, with invading forces taking heavy casualties before retreating from central Ukraine in the spring and then ceding huge swathes of territory in the eastern Kharkiv region after a stunning Ukrainian counteroffensive this month. Putin said Moscow would support votes to join Russia in the parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions currently under its control. Votes are scheduled for this weekend. The result of the “referendums” is essentially a foregone conclusion, with the Kremlin responsible for the vote and insisting that more than 90 percent of the local population wants to join Russia. Russia does not fully control either area, and many locals have fled to both Ukraine and Russia to escape the fighting. Putin characterized the decision as a move to protect Russian-speakers in southeastern Ukraine from Kiev’s recent advances. “Russia cannot let people in its immediate environment be torn apart by executioners and not respond to their desire to determine their own destiny,” he said. Additional reporting by Roman Olearchyk in Kyiv