JRL NEWSWATCH: “More troops, more annexations: Putin announces new Ukraine plans” – Christian Science Monitor
“After Russia’s defeat in Kharkiv, the pressure was on Vladimir Putin to respond. Today he did, by announcing the escalation of the war in Ukraine through the mobilization of 300,000 Russian troops.”
“… Putin has been hearing … from a chorus of Russian nationalist hawks that the … 200,000-strong expeditionary force in Ukraine is too small to achieve victory. … [the critics growing] louder after the Ukrainian army’s swift and decisive recapture of its northeastern Kharkiv region …. [On] Wednesday … Putin largely took the hawks’ side. … announc[ing] … mobiliz[ation] [of] a much bigger army of intervention … the immediate Crimea-like annexation of four Ukrainian territories, and … [possibly] more destructive military tactics …. The announced plan prioritizes … Russian defense industries and calls up some 300,000 Russian reservists to active duty. [] Putin… [previously] tried to minimize the war’s effects on the Russian public. … Depending on how things shape up on the battlefield in coming months, more drastic measures may well be in Russia’s future. …”