Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Sept 21: As Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine continues, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced a partial military mobilization in Russia, putting the country’s people and economy on a wartime footing.
Putin said the West wants to destroy Russia, adding that they had tried to turn Ukraine’s people into cannon fodder, in comments translated by Reuters. Without providing any further details, he said that mobilization events would begin Wednesday.
“To protect the homeland, its sovereignty (…), I consider it necessary to support the decision of the General Staff on partial mobilization,” he said.
“West has crossed the line. West is calling to weaken, divide and destroy Russia. Support for compatriots to determine their own futures. Goals of special operation unchanged – LPR completely liberated, DPR partially,” reports Russia’s RT quoting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin reaffirmed that his goal was to “liberate” the industrial hub of east Ukraine’s Donbas region and that the majority of its residents did not want to return to what he dubbed the “yoke” of Ukraine.
The West had engaged in nuclear blackmail, according to Putin, but Russia had “plenty of weapons to retaliate” and he wasn’t playing games.
Luhansk and Donetsk, which together make up the Donbas territory Moscow partially controlled in 2014, are already regarded as autonomous entities in Russia. All of Ukraine’s territory seized by Russian forces is seen as unlawfully captured by both Ukraine and the West.
After making gradual gains after months of fierce combat, Russia now controls roughly 60% of Donetsk and virtually all of Luhansk by the end of July.
These accomplishments are now in jeopardy as a result of Russian forces’ expulsion from the neighbouring Kharkiv region this month, which resulted in the loss of their key supply routes for a large portion of the Donetsk and Luhansk front lines.
Pro-Russian figures proposed referendums for the provinces of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, which make up around 15% of Ukrainian territory and are about the size of Hungary, on Tuesday in an apparent concerted move.
