Putin’s desperate move: Threatening nukes and calling up 300,000 military reservists to bolster beleaguered Russian forces in Ukraine
by Jamie McIntyre, Senior Writer |
September 21, 2022 07:31 AM
PUTIN: ‘THIS IS NO BLUFF’: In a 20-minute recorded address to his nation, Russian President Vladimir Putin upped the ante in a tacit admission that his forces have suffered humiliating losses in the first seven months of his faltering invasion of Ukraine.
Putin ordered what he called a “partial mobilization,” which would activate some 300,000 reserve forces who already have military training, and he peppered his speech with accusations against NATO and the West, saying they had “crossed all lines” in arming Ukraine, and are engaging in “nuclear blackmail,” falsely accusing NATO of contemplating the use nuclear weapons against Russia.
“If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people. This is not a bluff,” Putin said, casting the action as a response to a direct threat from NATO. The mobilization, he said, is “to protect our homeland, its sovereignty and territorial integrity, to ensure the security of our people and people in the liberated territories.”
In a tweet today, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace called Putin’s mobilization “an admission his invasion is failing.”
“No amount of threats and propaganda can hide the fact that Ukraine is winning the war, the international community are united and Russia is becoming a global pariah,” Wallace said.
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