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KYIV, Ukraine , Sep 21 (AP) \u2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization of reservists Wednesday, taking a risky and deeply unpopular step that follows humiliating setbacks for his troops nearly seven months after invading Ukraine.<\/p>\n
The first such call-up in Russia since World War II is sure to further fuel tensions with the Western backers of Ukraine, who derided it as an act of weakness and desperation. The move also sent some Russians scrambling to buy plane tickets out of the country and reportedly sparked some demonstrations.<\/p>\n
The Kremlin has struggled to replenish its troops in Ukraine, reaching out for volunteers. There even have been reports of widespread recruitment in prisons.<\/p>\n
In his seven-minute nationally televised address, Putin also warned the West that he isn\u2019t bluffing over using everything at his disposal to protect Russia \u2014 an apparent reference to his nuclear arsenal. He has previously told the West not to back Russia against the wall and has rebuked NATO countries for supplying weapons to Ukraine.<\/p>\n
The total number of reservists to be called up could be as high as 300,000, officials said. However, Putin\u2019s decree authorizing the partial mobilization that took effect immediately offered few details, raising suspicions that the draft could be broadened at any moment. Notably, one clause was kept secret.<\/p>\n
Even a partial mobilization is likely to increase dismay or doubt among Russians about the war. Shortly after Putin\u2019s address, Russian media reported a spike in demand for plane tickets abroad amid an apparent scramble to leave despite exorbitant prices.<\/p>\n
The Vesna opposition movement called for nationwide protests, although it was unclear how many would act, given Russia\u2019s harsh laws against criticizing the military and the war.<\/p>\n
\u201cThousands of Russian men \u2014 our fathers, brothers and husbands \u2014 will be thrown into the meat grinder of the war. What will they be dying for? What will mothers and children be crying for?\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n
As protest calls circulated online, the Moscow prosecutor\u2019s office warned that organizing or participating in such actions could lead to up to 15 years in prison. Authorities issued similar warnings ahead of other protests recently. The state communication watchdog Roskomnadzor also warned media that access to their websites would be blocked for transmitting \u201cfalse information\u201d about the mobilization. It was unclear exactly what that meant.<\/p>\n
Within hours, police arrested scores of people at antiwar protests across Russia, including at least a dozen in Moscow. An Associated Press crew in Moscow witnessed at least dozen of arrests in the first 15 minutes of a protest.<\/p>\n
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked what had changed since he and others previously said no mobilization was planned, said Russia is effectively fighting NATO because the alliance\u2019s members have supplied weapons to Kyiv.<\/p>\n
The partial mobilization order came a day after Russian-controlled regions in eastern and southern Ukraine announced plans for referendums on becoming integral parts of Russia \u2014 a move that could eventually allow Moscow to escalate the war. The referendums will start Friday in the Luhansk, Kherson and partly Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions.<\/p>\n
The balloting is all but certain to go Moscow\u2019s way. Foreign leaders are already calling the votes illegitimate and nonbinding. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said they were a \u201csham\u201d and \u201cnoise\u201d to distract the public.<\/p>\n
U.S. national security council spokesperson John Kirby said Putin\u2019s speech is \u201cdefinitely a sign that he\u2019s struggling, and we know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Added White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on MSNBC: \u201cIt\u2019s all because Russia is losing ground on the battlefield.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kirby told ABC\u2019s \u201cGood Morning America\u201d that Russia has suffered tens of thousands of casualties, has command and control issues, terrible troop morale, desertion problems and is \u201cforcing the wounded back (into) the fight.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who also spoke on Russian TV, said 5,937 Russian soldiers have died in the conflict, far lower than Western estimates.<\/p>\n
Shoigu also said that only those with relevant combat and service experience will be mobilized, adding that about 25 million people fit this criteria but only about 1% of them will be mobilized.<\/p>\n
Neither Shoigu nor Putin offered any other criteria for the call-up, so it wasn\u2019t clear how many years of combat experience or what level of training those to be mobilized must have. The decree, signed by Putin and released on the Kremlin website, provided even less clarity, stipulating only that \u201ccitizens of the Russian Federation\u201d will be drafted in the partial mobilization.<\/p>\n
Another key clause in the decree prevents most professional soldiers from terminating their contracts and leaving service until the partial mobilization is no longer in place.<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine has been the target of broad international criticism at the U.N. General Assembly that has kept up intense diplomatic pressure on Moscow. Zelenskyy is due to speak to the gathering in a prerecorded address later Wednesday. Putin is not attending.<\/p>\n
U.S. President Joe Biden used the global forum to say Russia has \u201cshamelessly violated the core tenets\u201d of the U.N with its \u201cbrutal, needless war\u201d in Ukraine. He said Putin\u2019s new nuclear threats against Europe showed \u201creckless disregard\u201d for Russia\u2019s responsibilities as a signer of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.<\/p>\n
Putin\u2019s mobilization gambit has a strong element of risk: It could backfire by making the war unpopular at home and hurting his own standing. It also concedes Russia\u2019s underlying military shortcomings.<\/p>\n
A Ukraine counteroffensive this month has seized the military initiative from Russia, as well as capturing large areas in Ukraine that the Russians once held. Its speed saw Russian troops abandon armored vehicles and other weapons as they retreated.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for Zelenskyy called the mobilization a \u201cbig tragedy\u201d for the Russian people.<\/p>\n
In a statement to The Associated Press, Ukrainian presidential spokesman Sergii Nikiforov said conscripts sent to Ukraine would face the same fate as ill-prepared Russian forces who unsuccessfully tried to take Kyiv early in the war.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a recognition of the incapacity of the Russian professional army, which has failed in all its tasks,\u201d Nikiforov said.<\/p>\n
The Russian mobilization is unlikely to produce any consequences on the battlefield for months because of a lack of training facilities and equipment.<\/p>\n
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace described Putin\u2019s move as \u201can admission that his invasion is failing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russian political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin said it seemed \u201can act of desperation.\u201d He predicted that Russians will resist the mobilization through \u201cpassive sabotage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople will evade this mobilization in every possible way, bribe their way out of this mobilization, leave the country,\u201d Oreshkin told the AP.<\/p>\n
The announcement will be unpopular, he said, describing it as \u201ca huge personal blow to Russian citizens, who until recently (took part in the hostilities) with pleasure, sitting on their couches, (watching) TV. And now the war has come into their home.\u201d<\/p>\n
The war in Ukraine, which has killed thousands of people, has driven up food prices worldwide and caused energy costs to soar. It has also brought fears of a potential nuclear catastrophe at Europe\u2019s largest nuclear plant in Ukraine\u2019s now Russia-occupied southeast. Investigations are also underway into possible war crimes atrocities committed by Moscow\u2019s forces.<\/p>\n
In his address, which was far shorter than previous speeches on the war, Putin accused the West of engaging in \u201cnuclear blackmail\u201d and noted \u201cstatements of some high-ranking representatives of the leading NATO states about the possibility of using nuclear weapons of mass destruction against Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t elaborate.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo those who allow themselves such statements regarding Russia, I want to remind you that our country also has various means of destruction … and when the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, to protect Russia and our people, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal,\u201d Putin said, adding: \u201cIt\u2019s not a bluff.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a speech hours later in Novgorod marking 1,160 years of Russian statehood, Putin hailed the \u201cheroes\u201d fighting in Ukraine and stressed the \u201ccolossal responsibility\u201d of protecting the nation\u2019s sovereignty.<\/p>\n
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