Russian President Vladimir Putin stated Wednesday that while his army may be in Ukraine fighting for a very long time, he did not see the need to mobilize additional troops at this stage.
Putin stated, using the preferred terminology for Russia’s February invasion: “As far as the duration of the particular military operation, well… this can be an extended process.”
Putin stated that Russia would defend itself with every means possible in a live televised meeting his Human Rights Council, which was overshadowed by war. He claimed that Russia is seen as a “second-class country” and has no rights to exist.
The risk of nuclear war is growing, he said – just the latest warning in a string of similar warnings. However, Russia sees its arsenal as an opportunity to retaliate and not first strike.
Putin stated, “We haven’t gone insane. We realize what nuclear weapons” These means are more sophisticated and advanced than other nuclear countries… We aren’t going to be running around with this weapon wie a razor.
After a September/October call-up of 300,000. reservists, he said that there wasn’t any reason to mobilize again at this time.
Putin stated that 150,000 were in Ukraine. 77,000 of them are in combat units, while the rest serve defensive roles. Rest 150,000 were at training centers.
He stated, “Under these circumstances, talk of any additional mobilization measures simply doesn’t make sense.”
Putin never discussed the probable duration of war. However, he claimed in July that Russia was only getting started.
Russia’s retreat has been significant, but Putin said that he doesn’t regret launching the war in Europe, which has proved to be one of Europe’s most destructive since World War Two.
Putin stated that Russia has already made a significant progress in Ukraine’s acquisition of new territories. This refers to September’s annexation by Kyiv of the four partially occupied areas, which Kyiv and many other members of the United Nations considered illegal.
According to him, Russia made the Sea of Azov, which is bounded in Russia by Russian-occupied territory, its “internal ocean”. This was an aspiration of Peter The Great, a 17th-and 18th-century war tsar with whom Putin had compared himself in his past.
Putin holds an annual meeting with the Human Rights Council. Critics say that Putin has been able to lip-service to civic freedoms, while increasing repressions and suppressing dissent.
He was outraged that the West had turned a blindeye to the direct Ukrainian bombardment of civilian areas of the Russian-occupied Donbas in eastern Ukraine.
Despite Russia’s claims that it has not targeted civilians, Ukraine suffered heavy civilian casualties during the conflict. On Wednesday, the United Nations Human Rights Office stated that Russian forces killed at most 441 civilians during their initial invasion. It documented attacks on dozens of cities and summary executions it claimed might have been war crimes. Moscow didn’t immediately respond.
The meeting continued, and it was reported that Ivan Safronov, a former defense reporter, had lost an appeal against his 22-year sentence for treason. Although he was charged with betraying the state secrets regarding defence contracts, he claimed that all of this material was openly available.
Ilya Yashin is a Moscow opposition councillor who supported the war and awaits her sentencing under the law that was passed following the invasion. It criminalizes the spreading of false information about the armed forces. A nine-year sentence is being sought by the prosecution.
Putin removed 10 council members last month and added four more, including Alexander Kots (pro-war blogger; correspondent for Komsomolskaya Pravda), who was also a member of the Council.
Many of the expelled members stated that they intended to meet with Putin and raise issues such as laws against dissenting voices and listing Kremlin critics “foreign agents”
