Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting on the military-industrial complex at the Kremlin, September 20, 2022, in Moscow, Russia. Contributor | ...
Russia has not yet declared war on Ukraine, despite having invaded it in February, and it calls its invasion a "special military operation." This is obviously an escalation," she said. In a rare pre-recorded televised announcement, Putin said the West "wants to destroy our country" and claimed the West had tried to "turn Ukraine's people into cannon fodder," in comments translated by Reuters, repeating earlier claims in which he has blamed Western nations for starting a proxy war with Russia.
A candid and searing look at Trump's most astounding provocations, from Barr and Putin to Xi and Playboy, in conversation with Susan Glasser and Peter Baker ...
The Russians were a source of money to the Trumps early in their real estate career and he sees Russia as a potential source of their future business prospects. I think that’s one of the things that we’re going to be exploring for years to come. We have to keep going back at it, and going back at it, and going back at it, to understand what really happened here. Because in the end he wants to rip up the trade agreement or he wants to take the troops out of your region or whatever. And even if Trump, himself, does not reemerge as the Republican nominee in 2024, we’re looking at a Republican Party that has been remade in his image with a cadre of Trumpists and a new style of Trumpist politics. Susan: I agree with you that we are in the middle of the crisis. One of the things that sticks with me the most from our time in Russia was when Putin was very actively dismantling what existed of Russian democracy at the time. You have to understand January 6th, 2021, in the context of January 20th, 2017, and every day in between. And it was inconceivable that you would ever make a joke like that about the United States. In fact, I remember talking to both of you throughout the Trump presidency about just how terrifyingly familiar this all felt. This is a first crack at a history of the Trump presidency, a first draft of many future books. It was a clear-eyed and bracing roadmap of the terrors ahead.
In a televised address to the nation on Wednesday, the Russian president said Russia's armed forces would call up its reserves immediately to support its ...
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In a televised address, Mr Putin says he has signed a decree on partial mobilisation and that most people in the Donbas region did not want to return to ...
"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." Mr Putin said the decision to partially mobilise was "fully adequate to the threats we face, namely to protect our homeland, its sovereignty and territorial integrity, to ensure the security of our people and people in the liberated territories". In a televised address, Mr Putin said his aim was to "liberate" east Ukraine's Donbas region, and that most people in the region did not want to return to what he called the "yoke" of Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin has failed to deliver his first national address on the war in Ukraine in a major sign Russia is reeling over its losses on the battlefield.
25+ news channels in 1 place. Ukraine, however, has labelled the referendums as a "stunt" and accused Russia of attempting to recuperate its losses on the battlefield. Try 1 month free. The President was expected to announce a mass mobilisation of the nation's military, signifying a major escalation of the conflict. Vladimir Putin was due to order a mass mobilisation of Russian forces in a major speech on the invasion of Ukraine - but he was nowhere to be seen. Vladimir Putin has failed to deliver his first national address on the war in Ukraine in a major sign Russia is reeling over its losses on the battlefield.
Kyiv | President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered Russia's first mobilisation since World War Two, warning the West that if it continued what he called ...
And we enjoy the full support of our partners in this.” The upcoming votes are all but certain to go Moscow’s way. The Russian president claimed the West wanted to “weaken, divide, and destroy Russia”. “Our positions do not change because of the noise or any announcements somewhere. Russia already considers Luhansk and Donetsk, which together make up the Donbas region, to be independent states. “Nuclear blackmail has also been used,” Mr Putin said, citing Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe.
Both Hitler and Mussolini had to compromise, keeping the numbers of Waffen SS and the combat-ready Blackshirts down and placing them under regular military ...
Nor does either of them have the charisma to keep people from asking the most basic of practical questions: “Why is this supposed to be a matter of life and death to me?” And, most importantly, Putin hasn’t achieved the momentum of military victories that made both Mussolini’s and Hitler’s rhetoric far more attractive than it should have been. The values defended by the globalist West — LGBT, the legalization of perversions and drugs, the merger of man and machine, the ubiquitous mixing caused by uncontrolled migration — are inextricably linked to its military and political hegemony and the unipolar system. Even if Russians accept this narrative, however, the survivor and the individualist in them will doubtless wonder why it makes sense to die in this war. None of the “traditionalist” ideas Dugin, and Putin, would have Russians defend with their lives are as powerful as the evil constructs the 20th-century fascist leaders were so good at drumming into their nations’ minds. Western liberalism and the global military, political and economic domination of the U.S. Russian ultranationalists are aware of the shortage of to-die-for ideas and powerful stories. Belief in the superiority of the German Volk and the “Aryan race,” and thus in their final victory, prevailed for many months after Hitler’s armies ceased to be unbeatable. Many respondents would hesitate to tell a pollster — who might be a secret police official or some other kind of informer — that they like the folks the Russian military has been fighting for the last seven months. Yet Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine adventure is such a flop precisely because he is failing to ignite the kind of hatred and self-righteousness in the Russian nation that Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini inspired in Germans and Italians. One could say Russians aren’t joining Putin’s war in Nazi Germany-like numbers simply because they fear for their lives, or because they’ve heard stories of how poorly equipped and commanded the Russian military was, or simply because Russia doesn’t appear to be winning. Both Hitler and Mussolini had to compromise, keeping the numbers of Waffen SS and the combat-ready Blackshirts down and placing them under regular military commanders in the field. The message the Wagner Group private military company is pushing in its ads is that of romanticized, testosterone-fueled adventure as an alternative to boring work in a factory — but its actual promise, too, is of a high, reliable income.
Russian president threatens west with nuclear retaliation, saying 'we will use all the means at our disposal'
Western intelligence as well as independent media reports suggest the real figure is significantly higher, with up to 80,000 Russian soldiers been killed or wounded since the start of the war. The partial mobilisation announced by Putin will widely be seen as a major admission of the Kremlin’s military failures in Ukraine. But they were quickly dismissed as illegitimate by western leaders who are backing Kyiv with military and other support that has helped its forces seize momentum on battlefields in the east and south. The Russian leader’s televised address to the nation comes a day after Russian-controlled regions in eastern and southern Ukraine announced plans to hold “referendums” this weekend on becoming part of Russia. And we enjoy the full support of our partners in this.” Some observers proposed that the Kremlin had changed its mind on its decision to announce a mobilisation, while others pointed to Putin’s habit of keeping his audience waiting.
The Russian president announced a partial mobilisation in Russia as the war in Ukraine reaches nearly seven months and Moscow loses ground on the ...
In 2020, the in-person gathering was cancelled and leaders instead delivered prerecorded speeches; last year was a mix of in-person and prerecorded speeches. This year’s UN gathering is back to being a full-scale, in-person event after two years of curtailed activity due to the pandemic. “He’ll offer a firm rebuke of Russia’s unjust war in Ukraine and make a call to the world to continue to stand against the naked aggression that we’ve seen these past several months,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in previewing the president’s address. Biden’s visit to the UN also comes as his administration’s efforts to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal appears stalled. Administration concerns grow by the day that time is running short to revive the Iran nuclear deal and over China’s sabre-rattling on Taiwan. Putin’s address to the nation comes a day after Russian-controlled regions in eastern and southern Ukraine announced plans to hold votes on becoming integral parts of Russia.
Hello, it's Wednesday, September 21. Here's what you need to get caught up on today's news. In local news… Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan has taken a ...
[Dates have been announced](https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/news/laneway-festival-2023-lineup-tickets-haim-joji-phoebe-bridgers/101456896)for Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth. [Weather radar:](/news/2022-09-21/weather-for-national-day-of-mourning-grand-final/101453422)All that rain the Bureau has been talking about? [Laneway Festival 2023](https://www.abc.net.au/doublej/music-reads/music-news/laneway-festival-2023-line-up-dates-tickets-haim-joji-phoebe-bri/101457242): After three years of COVID cancellations, Laneway festival is making a huge comeback in 2023 with a fresh line-up, including Phoebe Bridgers, Haim and Joji. [Penny Wong](/news/2022-09-21/penny-wong-chinese-counterpart/101460722)has confirmed that plans are being made for her to meet with her Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Between15mm and 30mm of rain is expected in north-west Victoria, inland NSW, and southern Queensland today. [ Alastair Clarkson ](/news/2022-09-21/afl-north-melbourne-hawthorn-alastair-clarkson/101463308)would delay his start at the club while the AFL investigates is underway.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Wednesday a partial mobilization in Russia as the war in Ukraine reaches nearly seven months and Moscow loses ...
The choreographed series of events was reminiscent of the Russian leader's announcement to send tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February. Putin also accused Western powers of providing Ukraine with long-range weapon systems that can strike deep into Russian territory — and again accused Ukraine and its allies of menacing Russia with nuclear threats. "Only those citizens will be drafted to military service who are currently in the reserve and first of all those who have served in the army, who have certain professions and have necessary experience," will be recruited for the campaign, said Putin in a televised address to the nation.
President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russia's first mobilisation since World War II and backed a plan to annex...
French President Emmanuel Macron said the plans were "a parody." And those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the weathervane can turn and point towards them." Putin gave his explicit support to referendums that will be held in coming days in swathes of Ukraine controlled by Russian troops - the first step to formal annexation of a chunk of Ukraine the size of Hungary. "This is not a bluff. "If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will without doubt use all available means to protect Russia and our people - this is not a bluff," Putin said in a televised address to the nation on Wednesday. In the biggest escalation of the Ukraine war since Moscow's February 24 invasion, Putin explicitly raised the spectre of a nuclear conflict, approved a plan to annex a chunk of territory from Ukraine the size of Hungary, and called up 300,000 reservists.
Russia on Wednesday announced an immediate partial mobilization of 300,000 reservists and threatened to deploy nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine.
Putin also announced that volunteers currently fighting for Russia in its war in Ukraine would be granted the same legal status as regular military personnel. He added that 5,937 Russians had been killed in the war so far. He added that Russia had 25 million men with military experience, saying that the current partial mobilization only covers about 1 percent of that number. Kremlin-installed officials in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region also indicated they planned to hold a referendum, with pro-Russian authorities in the Zaporizhzhia region indicating they would do the same. He added that, in the first instance, reservists with training and experience would be called to join up. “To defend Russia and our people, we doubtlessly will use all resources at our disposal,” Putin said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a partial military mobilization Wednesday to call up as many as 300,000 reservists in a dramatic bid to reverse ...
The latest: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “partial mobilization” of troops in an address to the nation on Sept. 23 to 27 in the breakaway Luhansk and Donetsk regions of eastern Ukraine, according to Russian news agencies. Putin, who sees Russians and Ukrainians as “one people” and denies Ukraine is a genuine sovereign state, insisted Wednesday that Russia was obliged to assist people in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. “He wants to smear hundreds of thousands of people in this blood.” “The purpose of this West is to weaken, divide and ultimately destroy our country,” he said in a speech that was clearly aimed at shifting public ambivalence into stronger national support for the war effort. Everyone understands that all the words about the defense of the Russian-speaking population [in Ukraine] and the fight for our brothers bear no relation to reality,” he said. “Russia must now understand that it cannot impose any will by military means, even by cynically adding mock referendums in bombed and now occupied territories,” Macron said in his address. After the winter, the West may not be so united,” he said, expressing optimism that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, France’s Macron and Germany’s Scholz would press Kyiv to accept a cease fire that cements Russia’s territorial gains. “There are no tickets and it is getting more and more difficult to leave by road,” he said. One Moscow millionaire who lives in Italy but had returned to Russia for a few days, described growing disenchantment with Putin and fear for the future among businesspeople. The plans to stage referendums in four occupied regions of eastern Ukraine — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — from Friday to Tuesday pave the way for their illegal annexation into Russia, a step that will be rejected globally. “This is not a bluff,” he said, in a clear reference to Russia’s nuclear capabilities.
Vladimir Putin's televised address to the Russian people is a desperate attempt to raise the stakes over the war in Ukraine.
[China](https://www.rferl.org/a/what-we-know-about-the-russia-china-partnership/32035626.html) may buy Russian oil and gas, but Xi has yet to side openly with Putin on Ukraine and is [unlikely to do so](https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-putins-failure-will-pave-the-way-for-chinas-rise-to-pre-eminence-in-eurasia-190038), especially if further escalation looms as a result of the planned referendums in the occupied territories. This was a clear signal to Putin to keep out of Central Asia and foreshadowed the subsequent [humiliating climbdown](https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-putins-failure-will-pave-the-way-for-chinas-rise-to-pre-eminence-in-eurasia-190038) of Putin having to admit that China had concerns about Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine. The announcement of the referendums and all that they imply also poses a direct challenge to the west, daring policymakers in Nato and the EU to continue to support a Ukraine now framed by Russia as the aggressor. [likely to be staged](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62965998) between September 23 and 27, and the Russian parliament is expected to ratify any annexation decision quickly with Putin signing it into effect shortly afterwards. But it is a very dangerous one, considering the applicability of In 2014, Ukraine did not put up much of a fight over Crimea, and its anti-terrorist operation quickly ground to a halt as Russia poured troops and resources into Donbas to back its local proxies there. [annexed](https://theconversation.com/crimea-votes-to-secede-from-ukraine-as-eu-considers-sanctions-against-russia-24426) Crimea following a hastily staged referendum there after Russia had occupied the peninsula. Putin was speaking to the Russian people in a televised address at 9am Moscow time, insisting that the partial military mobilisation of its 2 million-strong military reservists was to defend Russia and its territories. Indeed, Putin nearly went so far as to [say](http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/69390) so: “When the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will use all the means at our disposal to defend Russia and our people – this is not a bluff.” The Kremlin-installed de-facto authorities – covering large parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhiya and Kherson regions – have now “asked” Moscow to hold referendums on their accession to the Russian Federation. It represents the latest gamble by the Russian president to find a face-saving way out of an increasingly dire situation in Ukraine. Putin [used the territories as launchpads](https://theconversation.com/ukraine-invasion-what-the-west-needs-to-do-now-expert-view-177860) for his illegal war against Ukraine just two days later.
President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russia's first mobilisation since World War II and backed a plan to annex...
French President Emmanuel Macron said the plans were "a parody." And those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the weathervane can turn and point towards them." Putin gave his explicit support to referendums that will be held in coming days in swathes of Ukraine controlled by Russian troops - the first step to formal annexation of a chunk of Ukraine the size of Hungary. "This is not a bluff. "If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will without doubt use all available means to protect Russia and our people - this is not a bluff," Putin said in a televised address to the nation on Wednesday. In the biggest escalation of the Ukraine war since Moscow's February 24 invasion, Putin explicitly raised the spectre of a nuclear conflict, approved a plan to annex a chunk of territory from Ukraine the size of Hungary, and called up 300,000 reservists.
Russian leader's speech marks biggest escalation of Ukraine war, and raises fears of unprecedented disaster.
The offering of bribes to dodge the army, already a flourishing industry before the war, will probably become much more common in the coming weeks. “Russia’s repressed society will accept this obediently,” said Andrei Kolesnikov, of the Carnegie Moscow Center thinktank. “I can’t keep on fighting for ever. According to a government decree posted on the Kremlin’s website, the contracts of soldiers currently fighting in Ukraine will be automatically extended “until the end of the partial mobilisation” period. Many responded to these efforts, with polls consistently Since the start of the war, Putin has sought to shield his population from the realities of the war, with the Kremlin eager to cultivate a sense of normality on the streets of Moscow and other major cities.
The National Security Council spokesperson also addressed Putin's nuclear threats, saying there will be “severe consequences” if Russia uses nuclear weapons ...
always takes “this kind of rhetoric seriously.” takes “this kind of rhetoric seriously.” “This is not a bluff.”
President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's first wartime mobilisation since World War Two on Wednesday, in what Western countries described as an act of ...
"They want to free us from being alive?" Ukrainian soldiers sit on a armoured personnel carrier (APC) on their way to the frontline against Russian troops in the Donetsk region on 21 September, 2022. The sign "Net mogilizacii", written in Cyrilic means "No burialization". "They want to liberate us from what? This is not a bluff," Mr Putin said. We cannot make these compromises," he said. This regime has condemned itself and is destroying its youth," said Alexei, a 60-year-old resident who declined to give his last name. "Why are they deciding my future for me? But coming out now is very dangerous, otherwise there would be many more people," said protester Vasily Fedorov, a student wearing a pacifist symbol on his chest. An activist holding anti-mobilisation poster during an unsanctioned protest rally on 21 September 2022, in Moscow, Russia. a young protester shouted at one policeman. "Everyone is scared.
US president says Russia's planned annexation of more regions is an 'extremely significant violation' of UN charter.
“The Kremlin is organising a sham referendum to try to annex parts of Ukraine, an extremely significant violation of the UN charter. The Russian leader and his senior officials have made a string of similar nuclear threats since launching the invasion in February, in an effort to deter Nato countries from intervening. In his speech, Putin gave support to those ballots in the parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia runder Russian control. “This war is about extinguishing Ukraine’s right to exist as a state, plain and simple, and Ukraine’s right to exist as a people. The announcement triggered an exodus of Russian men scrambling to avoid the draft. [Vladimir Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/21/putin-announces-partial-mobilisation-in-russia-in-escalation-of-ukraine-war) and pledged to maintain support for Ukraine’s support in the face of Russia’s partial mobilisation and planned annexation of more Ukrainian regions.
US President Joe Biden has used a speech at the UN General Assembly to deliver a stinging rebuke of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He also called for reforms to strengthen the UN, such expanding the Security Council and refraining from using the veto “except in rare, extraordinary situations”. With the agreement abandoned under Trump and still in limbo, Iran President Ebrahim Raisi told the General Assembly: “America trampled upon the nuclear accord.” “In the face of a threat to the territorial integrity of our country, to protect Russia and our people, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal,” Putin warned. “They talk about the talks but announce military mobilisation. But he added that America wanted stability across the Taiwan Strait, and would “continue to oppose unilateral changes in the status quo, by either side”. We can do it with the force of arms,” Zelensky said.
Thursday: Joe Biden and allied leaders have reacted angrily to Vladimir Putin's threats to use nuclear weapons. Plus: Brad Pitt's side career as a sculptor.
Protests have engulfed parts of the country over the past five days after the [death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/18/mahsa-amini-dozens-injured-in-iran-protests-after-death-in-custody), who was arrested by the morality police for not wearing the hijab appropriately. [executing an Afghan prisoner](https://www.smh.com.au/national/former-australian-commando-faces-afghanistan-war-crimes-investigation-20220920-p5bjkv.html) in October 2012 is now the target of a major war crimes inquiry, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. The US president was speaking hours after Putin announced Russia’s first mobilisation since the second world war and warned that his country had “ [lots of weapons to reply](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/21/putin-announces-partial-mobilisation-in-russia-in-escalation-of-ukraine-war)” to what he claimed were western threats on its territory. Joyce said there was “nothing distinctly different” about the meetings he attended compared with the processes of former Liberal prime ministers, but he knew them only as “deep dives”, not as policy committee meetings. In an Former deputy prime ministers Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack did not always know if the “deep dive” policy meetings they attended were actually meetings of Scott Morrison’s secretive cabinet subcommittee. She must decide whether to give NSW the concessions it is seeking at the expense of the environment, or use the tough penalties that are built into the plan. NSW will seek an exemption from its obligations to deliver the final stage of the Murray-Darling Basin plan, a move that could leave the environment short-changed millions of litres of water. NSW will not meet a June 2024 deadline to deliver the last 25% of water savings of the plan, to be achieved through water-saving projects. Joe Biden and allied leaders have reacted angrily to Vladimir Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons, with the US pledging to maintain support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s partial mobilisation. The new federal water minister has been forced into a tricky situation after a declaration from the New South Wales government set the stage for a water-saving showdown with other states. In a speech to the UN general assembly, Joe Biden has condemned Vladimir Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons.
UK PM spurns Russian president's 'sabre-rattling' as she prepares call for democratic renewal in UN address.
His assaults on the UN charter and international norms that protect us will not be tolerated and he must withdraw from Ukraine to enable a return to regional and global stability.” “We need to keep improving and renewing what we do for the new era, demonstrating that democracy delivers.” “He is doubling down by sending even more reservists to a terrible fate.
Russian police officers detain a woman protester. Russian police officers detain a protester at a anti-war protest rally in Moscow. Credit: Getty Images.
The sign "Net mogilizacii", written in Cyrilic means "No burialization". Claims of defending Russia's territorial integrity are untrue." But coming out now is very dangerous, otherwise there would be many more people," said protester Vasily Fedorov, a student wearing a pacifist symbol on his chest. An activist holding anti-mobilisation poster during an unsanctioned protest rally on 21 September 2022, in Moscow, Russia. "Why are they deciding my future for me? "Everyone is scared.
And Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government have often framed the conflict as a life-or-death struggle against Western military, economic and ...
“Any country who is considering using nuclear weapons for a coercive purpose or tactical purpose is going to have to consider the ramifications of breaking the nuclear taboo,” Kathryn Boehlefeld, who teaches at the School for Advanced Nuclear Deterrence at the U.S. … That is only going to be used to be followed up by a coercive threat that if Ukraine doesn’t negotiate and if the United States doesn’t negotiate on behalf of Ukraine, that Russia will then proceed to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.” [launch this war in the first place](https://www.grid.news/story/global/2022/01/10/invading-ukraine-would-be-a-terrible-idea-for-putin-he-might-do-it-anyway/). A [2020 study by the Center for Naval Analyses](https://www.cna.org/archive/CNA_Files/pdf/drm-2019-u-022455-1rev.pdf) of Russian strategic thinking around nuclear weapons referred to this as “deterrence by intimidation.” When the Russian government now says that long-range missiles would cross a “ [red line](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-says-longer-range-us-missiles-kyiv-would-cross-red-line-2022-09-15/)” that would make Western countries a party to the war, it’s worth keeping in mind that Putin once said the same thing about [any lethal aid to Ukraine](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/deployment-of-offensive-weapons-in-ukraine-red-line-for-russia-putin/2435100). As Grid has [previously reported](https://www.grid.news/story/global/2022/04/29/what-is-a-tactical-nuke-and-would-putin-use-one/), this is somewhat misleading: There are few “tactical” targets for Russian nukes in this war. [“tactical” nuclear weapons,](https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-urges-putin-not-use-tactical-nuclear-arms-ukraine-cbs-interview-2022-09-17/) which generally refers to smaller, shorter-range weapons used to gain an advantage on the battlefield rather than inflict damage on an opponent’s society. [warned earlier this month that](https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-mikhail-gorbachev-dmitry-medvedev-6d21d606fdbcc45c128120796b0d8307) Western powers were trying to break Russia apart, saying, “a forceful disintegration of a nuclear power is always a chess game with Death, in which it’s known precisely when the check and mate comes: doomsday for mankind.” He added that “the best guarantee of safeguarding the Great Russia” is its nuclear arsenal. [the legislation](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/nkorea-passes-law-declaring-itself-nuclear-weapons-state-kcna-2022-09-08/) passed by North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament earlier this month, which declared that it would launch its nuclear weapons if the existence of the country or its government were under threat. The talk of “all the forces of self-defense,” taken together with Putin’s warning of “various means of destruction,” suggest the possibility of a Russian nuclear response looms larger than it has since the war began. Despite the success of Ukraine’s recent offensive around Kharkiv, there may still be much more fighting to come in this war, and a Russian defeat is still far from inevitable. In his address to the nation Tuesday, Putin did so again, and added a not-so-veiled reminder about his nuclear option.
President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russia's first mobilisation since World War II and backed a plan to annex swathes of Ukraine, warning the West he'
French President Emmanuel Macron said the plans were “a parody.” And those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the weathervane can turn and point towards them.” Putin gave his explicit support to referendums that will be held in coming days in swathes of Ukraine controlled by Russian troops – the first step to formal annexation of a chunk of Ukraine the size of Hungary. “This is not a bluff. “If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will without doubt use all available means to protect Russia and our people – this is not a bluff,” Putin said in a televised address to the nation on Wednesday. In the biggest escalation of the Ukraine war since Moscow’s February 24 invasion, Putin explicitly raised the spectre of a nuclear conflict, approved a plan to annex a chunk of territory from Ukraine the size of Hungary, and called up 300,000 reservists.
The Russian leader's fantastical speech shows he recognises that his country is losing its war on Ukraine, says Keir Giles of the Russia programme at ...
[tumble in the stock market](https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/sep/21/russia-ukraine-war-live-updates-blinken-calls-moscows-referendum-attempts-a-sham-zelenskiy-to-speak-at-un?page=with:block-632af29d8f08f4c4bf5d72df#block-632af29d8f08f4c4bf5d72df) has been accompanied by a spike in air fares and searches for [how to leave Russia](https://meduza.io/en/news/2022/09/20/google-searches-for-how-to-leave-russia-spike), as the implications of increased mobilisation hit home. Last week’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit saw both implicit and explicit [rebukes to Putin](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/15/putin-thanks-xi-china-balanced-stance-on-ukraine-invasion-russia) over the war. [Ukraine](https://www.theguardian.com/world/ukraine) and the world had moved on since his last major speech at the launch of his invasion in February. [hastily planned referendums](https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-ukraine-crisis-referendum-idUKBREA2A1H820140311) in the occupied territories are another sign of Russia scrambling to find ways of dissuading Ukraine’s supporters from helping it liberate its people. The “correct” figures will be ensured by adding in absentee voting from within Russia itself – and it is very likely that, just as with the same exercise in Crimea in 2014, the choices presented on the ballot paper will, in reality, be no choice at all. The less good news is that if he believes even a tiny fraction of the lies and fantasies he reeled off during the speech, his grip on reality is even shakier than we previously suspected.
Warning that Russia's imperial ambitions threaten the globe, President Joe Biden stood at the United Nations and denounced Moscow's efforts to “erase” ...
But rather than fly directly from London to New York, he returned to the White House for nearly 24 hours — and delivered a slightly off-topic speech about dark money in politics — before making his way to Manhattan on Tuesday evening. Beyond Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and India’s Narendra Modi have not made the trip to New York, depriving Biden of an ability to chastise the two powers face to face for the soft support of Russia. He headed straight for a Democratic party fundraiser — one of at least two on his New York itinerary. The president hammered that point home from the rostrum in Turtle Bay, calling for the continent to stiffen its resolve as the United States continues to funnel billions of dollars of weapons and supplies to the Ukrainian resistance. Hushed conversations across New York this week also held the rumor that Volodymyr Zelenskyy might also appear in Bali, in what would be his first time leaving his war-torn country since Russia’s invasion. The Western alliance’s resolve will be tested by what looms as a cold, dark winter for Europe — with the continent cut off from Russia’s energy supplies, its resolve tested by rising prices and plunging temperatures. officials believe the most perilous moment of the conflict is on the horizon. “Russia has shamelessly violated the core tenants of the United Nations charter.” Putin had long resisted any sort of military mobilization for fears that a widespread effort to recruit more fighters could lead to protests and other domestic turmoil. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan reviewed the speech with Biden in the morning, adjusting and emphasizing certain lines, aides said. Biden aides believe Ukraine’s recent wins prove it remains worth it for Europe to stand with Kyiv. But Putin’s inflammatory rhetoric heightened his call’s urgency, with fears growing that the Russian president would use some sort of tactical nuclear device on the battlefield.