Putin Signals Desperation as Failures in Ukraine Mount

Russian President Vladimir Putin is threatening nuclear war, calling up reserve troops and perhaps an outright draft as his military failures in Ukraine continue to pile up.

Russia ordered Airlines and Rail companies not to sell tickets out of the country to men aged 18 to 65 yesterday. The order came just as Putin called hundreds of thousands of reservists into active duty.

In the largest escalation since Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine in February, Putin made good on a partial mobilization for 300,000 reserve and special operations personnel in an executive order signed Wednesday. He issued veiled threats of nuclear strikes in response to the “aggressive policy of Western elites” to continue provoking Russia on the 1000-km line of contact in Ukraine and providing the Ukrainian army with weapons and supplies.

https://dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2022/09/21/putin-threatens-nuclear-war-and-calls-up-thousands-of-reserve-troops/

During an address today, Putin also threatened the use of nuclear weapons if he doesn’t get what he wants.

“In the event of a threat to the territorial integrity of our country and to defend Russia and our people, we will certainly make use of all weapon systems available to us. This is not a bluff,” he said.

In a joint statement, British Prime Minister Liz Truss and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that both agree Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of an immediate partial mobilization of Russian citizens is a sign of “weakness.” 

It’s also a sign that “Russia’s invasion is failing,” the two leaders said in the statement after meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.  

https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-09-21-22/index.html

Ukraine’s forces have had significant success against the Russian military in recent weeks. Putin has lost full control of Luhansk, a major territory in the coal-rich Donbas region.

The Russian Black Sea fleet has pulled back after Ukraine proved its anti-ship capabilities by sinking the flagship “Moskva” and Ukrainian land forces have moved within striking distance of Sevastapol – a key Black Sea port in at the southern end of the Crimean peninsula.

Russia has failed to establish superiority on the ground, at sea or in the air for the entire length of the conflict and with Putin’s forces in full-defensive mode, it’s not certain that lightly-trained reserve troops will make much difference.

Putin is threatening to hold annexation votes in areas that Russia no longer firmly holds and is likely to lose in the coming weeks so that it can claim that Ukraine attacked Russian territory. The votes are unlikely to be internationally-monitored or even close to free and fair.

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