The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, said on Tuesday that any further mobilization will depend on what Russia wants to achieve in the ukrainian waradding that he is faced with a question that only he could answer: should Russia try again to take kyiv?
More than 15 months after Putin sent his troops to Ukraine, Russian and Ukrainian forces are still fighting with artillery, tanks and drones on a 1,000-kilometre front, albeit a long way from the capital Kiev.
Using the word “war” several times, Putin launched a barrage of warnings to the Westsuggesting that Russia may have to impose a “cordon sanitaire” in Ukraine to prevent it from attacking Russia and stating that Moscow is considering abandoning the Black Sea grain deal.
Russia has no need for national martial law, he said, and will continue to respond to violations of its red lines. He added that many in the United States do not want a World War III, but indicated that Washington gave the impression that it did not fear an escalation.
New outpost on kyiv?
His most disconcerting comment, however, was about kyiv, which Russian forces tried and failed to capture just hours after Putin ordered troops into Ukraine on February 24 last year.
“Should we go back there or not? Why am I asking such a rhetorical question?” Putin said. 18 Russian war correspondents and bloggers in the Kremlin.
“Only I myself can answer this,” he said. His comments on kyiv – for several hours answering questions – were broadcast on Russian state television.
Russian troops were defeated in kyiv and eventually withdrew to a strip of land in eastern and southern Ukraine that Putin declared now part of Russia. Ukraine claims that it will not rest until all Russian soldiers are expelled from its territory.
In September Putin announced a “partial mobilization” of 300,000 reservists, triggering an exodus of at least as many Russians who tried to evade conscription by going to republics of the former Soviet Union.
Asked by state television war correspondent Alexander Sladkov, Putin replied: “Today is not necessary”.
However, the Russian supreme leader was not very adamant, saying it depends on what Moscow wants to achieve and noting that some public figures believe Russia needs 1 million or even 2 million more men in uniform. “It depends on what we want,” he commented.
Although Russia now controls about 18% of Ukrainian territory, the war has highlighted fissures in Russia’s once-mighty armed forces and the enormous human cost of fighting urban battles like the one in Bakhmut, a small eastern town.
Source: Ambito
