Russian service members march past an honour guard during a military parade on Victory Day, which marks the 77th anniversary of the victory over Nazi

Putin orders partial Russian mobilisation, warns West over nuclear blackmail

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2022-09-21 06:30:06

Russian service members march past an honour guard during a military parade on Victory Day, which marks the 77th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Red Square in central Moscow, Russia May 9, 2022. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo

LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered Russia's first mobilisation since World War Two, warning the West that if it continued what he called its "nuclear blackmail" that Moscow would respond with the might of all its vast arsenal.

"If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we use all available means to protect our people - this is not a bluff," Putin said in a televised address to the nation.

Putin said his aim was to "liberate" east Ukraine's Donbas region, and that most people in the regions under Russian control did not want to be ruled by Kyiv.