Ukraine has called for more Western support and brushed off Russia’s escalation of their conflict, saying the Kremlin’s decision to draft hundreds of thousands more soldiers and move towards the annexation of more Ukrainian territory would not save Moscow from eventual defeat.
Russian president Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilisation that could bring some 300,000 reservists into his country’s ranks, and vowed that his state must defeat Ukraine to quash a supposed threat to its existence from aggressive Western powers allied to Kyiv.
Repeating unfounded claims that Ukraine is now run by “neo-Nazis”, Mr Putin also said he backed planned votes in the coming days in four partially occupied areas of Ukraine, where Moscow-appointed officials say they want to join Russia — a similar scenario to that created by the Kremlin in 2014 to annex the Crimean peninsula from Kyiv.
“We cannot, we have no moral right to let our kith and kin be torn to pieces by butchers,” Mr Putin said of residents of these areas.
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“We will do everything necessary to create safe conditions for these referendums so that people can express their will. And we will support the choice of future made by the majority of people” in occupied parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, he added, referring to an area of some 90,000sq km — bigger than the island of Ireland.
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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had been struggling for manpower in its ranks for months since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February, and had already sent cadets to the front.
“They couldn’t even finish their training. All these people can’t fight. They have come to us and are dying,” he told Germany’s Bild newspaper.
“He needs an army of millions to come to us. Because he sees that a large part of those who come to us just run away,” Mr Zelenskiy added, while insisting that the “sham” referendums would have no impact on Ukraine’s drive to expel all Russian forces.
“We will act step-by-step according to our plans. I am sure we will liberate our territory,” he said.
Mr Zelenskiy also played down Mr Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons to protect Russian territory: “I don’t believe he will use them. I don’t believe the world will allow him to use these weapons.”
Several Ukrainian officials echoed statements from western leaders that Mr Putin’s partial mobilisation of reserves and threatening rhetoric were signs of weakness, as his forces struggle in Ukraine after being routed in the eastern Kharkiv region in recent weeks.
“The only appropriate response to Putin’s belligerent threats is to double down on supporting Ukraine,” said Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba. “More sanctions on Russia. More weapons to Ukraine. More solidarity with Ukrainians. More businesses pulling out of Russia. More determination to hold Russia accountable.”
Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said members of the alliance would “stay calm and continue to provide the support to ... Ukraine. The speech of president Putin demonstrates that the war is not going according to president Putin’s plans. He has made a big miscalculation.”
Heavy fighting continues in eastern and southern Ukraine, and Russian missiles struck the cities of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia and the Dnipropetrovsk region on Wednesday.
