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Putin on Wednesday announced a mobilization of reservists and said the West was threatening Russia.
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The UK and the US reacted to Putin’s speech by saying it points to Russian failure.
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Ukraine recently repulsed some of Russia’s forces, retaking large swathes of territory.
British and US officials said the new threats and escalations from Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday are a sign that he is failing on the battlefield.
Putin announced a mobilization of army reservists towards his war in Ukraine early Wednesday Moscow time, breaking an earlier commitment not to and amping up his warlike rhetoric.
He accused parts of the West — which has been supplying weapons and expertise in the defense of Ukraine — of trying to destroy Russia. He alluded to his country’s nuclear stockpile and said it would “use all resources we have to defend our people.”
His speech came after many setbacks for Russia’s army in its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia had expected to quickly take the entire country, but was instead repelled and focused its efforts in the east. That led to weeks of stalemate, before a recent series of defeats that saw Ukrainian forces retake large swathes of territory in the north and east.
Putin’s threats and broken promises are “an admission his invasion is failing,” UK Defense Minister Ben Wallace wrote in a statement moments after the speech.
“He and his defense minister have sent tens of thousands of their own citizens to their deaths, ill equipped and badly led,” he wrote.
Western officials estimate that of a force of 150,000 that massed at Ukraine’s border on February 24, 80,000 were killed as of August, according to The Wall Street Journal. There have been multiple reports of a demoralized, ill-equipped force.
“No amount of threats and propaganda can hide the fact that Ukraine is winning this war, the international community are united and Russia is becoming a global pariah,” Wallace wrote.
Similar condemnation came from The US ambassador to Kyiv, Bridget Brink, who wrote:
“Sham referenda and mobilization are signs of weakness, of Russian failure. The United States will never recognize Russia’s claim to purportedly annexed Ukrainian territory, and we will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Putin on Wednesday confirmed his support for the Tuesday announcement by pro-Russian leaders in four occupied regions of Ukraine that they would hold referendums on joining Russia.
These are illegal under international law and drew immediate condemnation from the West.
The EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said on Tuesday that the referendums cannot be considered valid.
He said they will be held in regions where people have fled, access to free media is highly restricted, and people live in fear of military occupiers.
“Therefore, these illegal ‘votes’ cannot be considered under any circumstance as the free expression of the will of the people living in these regions under constant Russian military threat and intimidation.”
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