A picture released by the Kremlin shows Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking during a televised address to the nation in Moscow when he announced a partial mobilisation for the country's military campaign in Ukraine. Photo: AFP / Kremlin.Ru
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the partial mobilisation of reservists in Russia.This means 300-thousand military reservists, mostly young men, will be called up to bolster Russia's forces who have suffered recent battlefield losses in Ukraine. It follows the territory gains Ukraine has made at pace over the past ten days - seven months into a stalled Russian invasion of Ukraine. In a rare televised address to the nation, President Putin also warned he wasn't bluffing over using all the means at his disposal to protect Russia's territory - a veiled reference to Russia's nuclear capabilities. The proxy Russian authorities in four occupied areas of Ukraine intend to hold referendums in the next few days on joining the Russian Federation - Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. Ukraine's President Zelensky has dismissed the referendums as a 'sham'. Luke Harding is an award winning Guardian journalist - a former Moscow correspondent - and the author of two books on Russia and President Putin. He is currently in Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine.
