‘Not bluffing’: Putin calls for military reserve forces to regroup for ‘special operation’ in Ukraine
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 21: In what has been described by some reports as a ‘defiant and ‘combative’ speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the military reserve forces to regroup for ‘his special military operation’ in Ukraine.
While Putin said Russia has “lots of weapons to reply” and that he was not bluffing, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said 300,000 with combat experience will now be called up to fight, reported BBC.
President Putin and his Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, in their appearances on Russian TV this morning, were very keen to stress that this mobilisation is strictly ‘partial’, a BBC report said.
According to The Guardian, Putin also said Russia would 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. He accused the west of planning to destroy Russia and use nuclear blackmail.
Putin vowed on Wednesday to use “all available means” to protect Russian territory, after Moscow-held regions of Ukraine suddenly announced annexation referendums.
The votes, already denounced by Kyiv and the West as a “sham”, will dramatically up the stakes in the seven-month-old conflict in Ukraine by giving Moscow the ability to accuse Ukrainian forces of attacking its own territory.
Four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine — Donetsk and Lugansk in the east and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south — said on Tuesday that they would hold the votes over five days beginning Friday.
In a pre-recorded address to the nation early on Wednesday, Putin accused the West of trying to “destroy” his country through its backing of Kyiv, and said Russia needed to support those in Ukraine who wanted to “determine their own future”.
-AFP
