Putin orders partial Russian 'mobilisation', warns over 'nuclear blackmail'
President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russia's first mobilisation since World War Two, warning that Moscow would respond with the might of all its vast arsenal if the West continued with what he called its "nuclear blackmail".
The blunt warning from Russia's leader, whose country has more nuclear warheads than even the United States, marks the biggest escalation of the war in Ukraine since Moscow's 24 February invasion.
(...)
Leaders in Europe have called for calm after Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's first military "mobilisation" since World War II.
www.rte.ie
Putin announces partial mobilisation and threatens nuclear retaliation in escalation of Ukraine war
The Russian president,
Vladimir Putin, has announced a partial mobilisation in Russia in a major escalation that places the country’s people and economy on a wartime footing.
Putin also threatened nuclear retaliation, saying that Russia had “lots of weapons to reply” to what he called western threats on Russian territory and said that he was not bluffing.
In a highly anticipated televised address, Putin said the “partial mobilisation” was a direct response to the dangers posed by the west that “wants to destroy our country” and claimed the west had tried to “turn Ukraine’s people into cannon fodder”.
(...)
Russian president threatens west with nuclear retaliation, saying ‘we will use all the means at our disposal’
www.theguardian.com
www.nbcnews.com
