Russian President announces partial military mobilization

 Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced a partial military mobilization in Russia, placing the population and economy of the nation on a war footing as Moscow's invasion of Ukraine proceeds.

In remarks Reuters translated, Putin, claimed that the West wanted to destroy Russia and that they had attempted to use the Ukrainian people as cannon fodder. He stated that Wednesday would see the start of mobilization activities without offering any other information.

“To protect the homeland, its sovereignty (…), I consider it necessary to support the decision of the General Staff on partial mobilization,” Putin said.

“West has crossed the line. West is calling to weaken, divide and destroy Russia. Support for compatriots to determine their own futures. Goals of special operation unchanged – LPR completely liberated, DPR partially,” reports Russia’s RT quoting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin reiterated that his intention was to "liberate" the region's industrial center from what he called the "yoke" of Ukraine and that the majority of its population did not want to do so.

Putin claimed that the West had used nuclear blackmail, but he wasn't playing games since Russia had "plenty of weapons to retaliate."

Russia already views Luhansk and Donetsk as separate states, which together make up the Donbas territory Moscow only partially controlled in 2014. Both Ukraine and the West consider all of the areas taken by Russian forces in Ukraine to have been taken illegally.

After months of intense fighting, Russia gradually gained control of Donetsk and nearly all of Luhansk by the end of July.

These achievements are now in peril as a result of Russian forces being driven out of the neighboring Kharkiv region this month, cutting off their main supply lines to a significant chunk of the Donetsk and Luhansk front lines.

On Tuesday, in what appeared to be a coordinated effort, pro-Russian individuals proposed referendums for the provinces of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, which make up roughly 15% of Ukrainian territory and are about the size of Hungary.