Russian President Vladimir Putin announces partial military mobilization The acceptance of the borders of his “special military operation” in Ukraine and a readiness to escalate the conflict in response to failures. His original plan was to accomplish his military objectives through limited warfare. He had mobilized more than 150,000 troops and ordered a sharp thrust into Ukraine from several fronts on 24 February, but this plan did not materialize, as the Ukrainian army was militarily and financially by the US and Europe. supported, slowed the enemy’s advance and made the invasion costly for the Russians. Before that, Mr. Putin had to withdraw troops from around Kyiv and Kharkiv and focus on the east and south of Ukraine where the Russians made territorial gains. But Russia suffered its first major battlefield defeat earlier this month in Kharkiv Oblast in the northeast, where its troops faced a power Ukrainian counter-offensive. This setback seems to have accelerated the Kremlin’s move to consolidate its position in the occupied Ukrainian territories. Pro-Russian separatists in Luhansk, Donetsk in the east and Kherson and Zaporizhzhya in the south are now planning to hold referendums on joining the Russian Federation. As the results are known from the first vote, the door is now closing on the possibility of a negotiated settlement of the conflict on the basis of pre-war borders.
For Mr Putin, the increase comes with additional risks. He went to Ukraine with limited forces at first because he knew that a general mobilization, which would require nationwide recruitment, could be unpopular. But nearly eight months later, their war has failed to accomplish not only its stated objectives, which include “demilitarization” of Ukraine, but also a stronger NATO, throwing its collective weight behind Ukraine and taking it into Finland. It has seen itself expanding across Russian borders. and Sweden are its members. Mr Putin and his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu acknowledged the challenges on Wednesday. If Mr. Putin, who eliminated the nuclear threat, said his troops were best faced with a “Western military machine” in Ukraine, so would Mr. Shoigu, whose ministries so far refrain from calling the military operation war. , said that Russia is today “at war with the collective West”. Faced with battlefield setbacks, sanctions and geopolitical challenges, Mr Putin believes there is a way forward. But there is no certainty that partial mobilization will yield quick results and it may well trigger the cycle of growth. This means that the war is entering a far more dangerous phase.