“Our country also has various means of sabotage, which in some ways are more modern than those of NATO countries, and if the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will surely use all means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people,” Putin said in a statement on Wednesday. That could open a new chapter in the months-long conflict, he said in a speech.
Referring to the possibility of the escalation and use of nuclear weapons, Putin said: “Those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the prevailing winds will turn in their direction.”
Russian leaders said a “partial mobilization” in the country was necessary to “protect our homeland, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” efforts to begin on Wednesday and their decree signed.
Mobilization means citizens and those with military experience in the reserve will be drafted, he added.
The announcement comes as Russia is believed to be facing manpower shortages and follows Russia’s Tuesday amendment to its military service law that increases penalties for resistance to military service or coercion against official military orders during mobilization or martial law .
“They’ve said outright that they were able to split the Soviet Union in 1991, and it’s time for Russia to split into many mutually hostile regions and regions,” he said.
Referendum announced
referendum, Putin’s support in remarks on Wednesday could pave the way for Russia’s annexation of the regions, allowing Moscow to label the ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive as an attack on Russia itself, giving Moscow an excuse to escalate its military response.
In seemingly coordinated statements, the Russian-appointed leaders of the occupied Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, as well as the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republics and Donetsk People’s Republics, said they plan to start the war from September 23. “Voting” begins today.
The four regions that announced plans for the referendum together make up about 18 percent of Ukraine’s territory. Russia does not fully control any of the four.
The expected referendum has been announced, contrary to international law that upholds Ukraine’s sovereignty, as world leaders have come to New York for a session of the United Nations General Assembly, where the war and its effects loom.
Putin said on Wednesday that Russia had asked the two “people’s republics” and the regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye to support the referendum and pledged to “do everything possible to ensure safe conditions for people to express their will”.
Possibility to upgrade
The statements have been quickly supported by Russian politicians. Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president and deputy chairman of Russia’s National Security Council, has publicly supported a referendum in the self-proclaimed Donbas Republic, saying it has “great significance” for the “systematic protection” of residents.
Medvedev said on his Telegram channel: “Occupying Russian territory is a crime that allows you to use all your self-defense forces,” apparently alluding to the possibility of a military escalation.
“Don’t. Don’t. Don’t. You’re going to change the face of war unlike anything since World War II,” Biden said, adding that the U.S. response to such actions would be “significant.”
The Act provides that resistance or coercion related to military service violates official military orders and involves violence or the threat of violence during periods of mobilization or martial law, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Josh Pennington, Uliana Pavlova, and CNN’s Jennifer Hansler, Anna Chernova, and Tim Lister contributed to this report.