Europe is preparing for very difficult days ahead
As a nasty Ukrainian counteroffensive takes hold against Russian forces, a top aide to President Vladimir Putin is pressing to incorporate
Ukraine's eastern region into Russia so that Russia can bring more force to bear than it now can.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called for referendums in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, saying they are “essential” and would allow Moscow to use its full military capability in the region.
Anticipating a violent backlash in Russia, the Putin-friendly Duma cleared legislation Tuesday for harsh penalties against anyone who interferes with mobilization or against draftees who defy orders under combat situations.
"Encroachment onto the territory of Russia is a crime which allows you to use all self-defense forces," Medvedev, who is now the deputy head of Russia's Security Council, said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
In what appeared to be choreographed requests, Russian-backed officials across 15 percent of Ukrainian territory - an area about the size of Hungary or Portugal - have lined up to request referendums on joining Russia. Referendums are planned for Friday through Monday, pro-Russian separatist officials said.
At this point, Putin has no replacements to shore up his embattled army units and faces a humiliating withdrawal from all Ukraine, including the Crimea, which he seized from Ukraine eight years ago.
The ex-KGB man who runs Russia has been careful to avoid arousing discontent with a mobilization order -- which would mean conscription of the many military age men who have steered clear of the "conflict." But with the situation in the lower Don becoming desperate, he and his advisers seem to see little alternative but to order universal conscription, though military opinion is skeptical that such action can come soon enough to stave off defeat.
By rebranding the "Ukraine conflict" as an "invasion of Russia," Moscow hawks will have the manpower needed to replace the "cannon fodder" who have perished in the savage fighting.
In addition, Russia's military doctrine allows use of nuclear weapons if weapons of mass destruction are used against it or if the Russian state faces an existential threat from conventional weapons.
Medvedev backs a Russian escalation
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/09/20/pro-moscow-officials-in-occupied-ukraine-to-hold-russia-annexation-votes-a78844
Russia moves to formally annex swathes of Ukraine
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/medvedev-says-moscow-backed-separatists-must-hold-referendums-join-russia-2022-09-20/
Luhansk, Donetsk and Kherson officials said the referendums would take place in just days - on Friday Sept. 23 through to Monday Sept. 27. Russia does not fully control any of the four regions, with only around 60% of Donetsk region in Russian hands.
Asked about the referendums, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, "From the very start of the operation ... we said that the peoples of the respective territories should decide their fate, and the whole current situation confirms that they want to be masters of their fate."
If Moscow formally annexed a vast additional chunk of Ukraine, Putin would essentially be daring the United States and its European allies to risk a direct military confrontation with Russia, the world's biggest nuclear power.
French President Emmanuel Macron called the referendum plans "a parody."
"If the Donbas referendum idea wasn’t so tragic,it would be funny," he told reporters in New York.
Medvedev said that the annexations would be permanent. "It is equally important that after the amendments to the constitution of our state, no future leader of Russia, no official will be able to reverse these decisions."
Ukraine said the threat of referendums is "naive blackmail" and a sign that Russia is running scared.
"The Russians can do whatever they want. It will not change anything," Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said in response to reporters' questions at the start of a meeting with the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
Some information comes from a report by Reuters
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called for referendums in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, saying they are “essential” and would allow Moscow to use its full military capability in the region.
Anticipating a violent backlash in Russia, the Putin-friendly Duma cleared legislation Tuesday for harsh penalties against anyone who interferes with mobilization or against draftees who defy orders under combat situations.
"Encroachment onto the territory of Russia is a crime which allows you to use all self-defense forces," Medvedev, who is now the deputy head of Russia's Security Council, said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
In what appeared to be choreographed requests, Russian-backed officials across 15 percent of Ukrainian territory - an area about the size of Hungary or Portugal - have lined up to request referendums on joining Russia. Referendums are planned for Friday through Monday, pro-Russian separatist officials said.
At this point, Putin has no replacements to shore up his embattled army units and faces a humiliating withdrawal from all Ukraine, including the Crimea, which he seized from Ukraine eight years ago.
The ex-KGB man who runs Russia has been careful to avoid arousing discontent with a mobilization order -- which would mean conscription of the many military age men who have steered clear of the "conflict." But with the situation in the lower Don becoming desperate, he and his advisers seem to see little alternative but to order universal conscription, though military opinion is skeptical that such action can come soon enough to stave off defeat.
By rebranding the "Ukraine conflict" as an "invasion of Russia," Moscow hawks will have the manpower needed to replace the "cannon fodder" who have perished in the savage fighting.
In addition, Russia's military doctrine allows use of nuclear weapons if weapons of mass destruction are used against it or if the Russian state faces an existential threat from conventional weapons.
Medvedev backs a Russian escalation
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/09/20/pro-moscow-officials-in-occupied-ukraine-to-hold-russia-annexation-votes-a78844
Russia moves to formally annex swathes of Ukraine
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/medvedev-says-moscow-backed-separatists-must-hold-referendums-join-russia-2022-09-20/
Luhansk, Donetsk and Kherson officials said the referendums would take place in just days - on Friday Sept. 23 through to Monday Sept. 27. Russia does not fully control any of the four regions, with only around 60% of Donetsk region in Russian hands.
Asked about the referendums, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, "From the very start of the operation ... we said that the peoples of the respective territories should decide their fate, and the whole current situation confirms that they want to be masters of their fate."
If Moscow formally annexed a vast additional chunk of Ukraine, Putin would essentially be daring the United States and its European allies to risk a direct military confrontation with Russia, the world's biggest nuclear power.
French President Emmanuel Macron called the referendum plans "a parody."
"If the Donbas referendum idea wasn’t so tragic,it would be funny," he told reporters in New York.
Medvedev said that the annexations would be permanent. "It is equally important that after the amendments to the constitution of our state, no future leader of Russia, no official will be able to reverse these decisions."
Ukraine said the threat of referendums is "naive blackmail" and a sign that Russia is running scared.
"The Russians can do whatever they want. It will not change anything," Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said in response to reporters' questions at the start of a meeting with the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
Some information comes from a report by Reuters
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