Once again, Putin has shown that he is unable to deliver on his own words. In fact, in the initial stages of the war, the Russian leader has repeatedly officially declared that he has no intention of mobilizing the population, nor of wanting to annex parts of Ukrainian territory to Russia, arguing in a completely unfounded and pretext manner as the objective of ' invasion was only the "liberation" of the country from the "yoke of the fascists".
After seven months, with Ukraine advancing by liberating more and more territories, it is Putin’s own words and deeds that make his previous statements waste paper. Thus, in just over twenty-four hours, in a coordinated move, the leaders settled by Moscow in the partially occupied territories of Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia (where the largest nuclear power plant in Europe is located) and Donetsk declared the summons of a referendum to become part of the Russian Federation, to be held on Friday, September 23, in a state of war. Soon after, Putin announced partial mobilization.
Struck by sanctions, with decimated troops in retreat and increasingly isolated from the international community - so much so that relations with North Korea have to be strengthened - Putin justified the recall of the reservists as necessary to "defend the territorial integrity "of Russia, according to him threatened by an" aggressive anti-Russian policy "and by a" nuclear blackmail "of the West. He then adds that Russia has "many weapons to respond".
A series of declarations clearly aimed at justifying and defending its position in front of the Russian people, dragged by them into this dramatic historical moment. Indeed, the use of atomic weapons has been threatened, several times, only by the Kremlin and at the same time it was Russia that violated the territorial integrity of a partner country of the European Union, with the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbass in 2014 and with the invasion of the whole of Ukraine in 2022.