Russian President, Vladimir Putin called on Wednesday for a “partial mobilization” of the population in defense “of the homeland, its sovereignty and territorial integrity” and denounced that the West has the objective of “destroying Russia.”
“To guarantee the security of our people and of the people in the liberated territories, I consider it necessary to support the proposal of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff to carry out a partial mobilization,” the president said in a message to the nation.
He explained that in this military service only those who are part of the reserve, have served in the Armed Forces and have relevant skills and experience will be recruited.
The partial mobilization, whose decree was already published by the Kremlin, would begin this Wednesday, September 21.
Putin communicated this decree hours after the self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as the Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporozhie, announced that they will hold referendums with the purpose of joining Russia.
The Russian head of state reiterated that the main objectives of the special operation in Ukraine, which began on February 24, remain the same: “to protect people who have been subjected to abuse, to the genocide of the kyiv regime for eight years”.
“Their main objectives, the liberation of the entire territory of Donbas, have been and will be the same,” he said.
He detailed that the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Lugansk was almost completely liberated from neo-Nazis, while fighting continues in Donetsk, regions that comprise the Donbas area.
Ukraine has lost half its army
After Putin’s message, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu offered statements in which he revealed that “Ukraine has already lost half the army, with 61,207 dead and 49,368 wounded, against Russia’s 5,937.”
The official stressed that his country “is fighting not only with Ukraine, but with the Western collective,” adding that in this partial mobilization, some 300,000 reservists will be called up.
(Taken from Telesur)