John Kirby: Putin calling up more troops for Ukraine war is a ‘sign that he’s struggling’

John Kirby: Putin calling up more troops for Ukraine war is a ‘sign that he’s struggling’ The National Security Council spokesperson also addressed Putin’s nuclear threats, saying there will be “severe consequences” if Russia uses nuclear weapons against Ukraine and that the U.S. takes “this kind of rhetoric seriously.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s transition to prepare upwards of 300,000 military reservists, a heightening in the Kremlin’s vacillating Ukraine intrusion, is most certainly a sign that Putin is “battling,” the White House said Wednesday.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the calling up of more troops was expected but acknowledged the large number — and what it indicates in this stage of the war.

“I mean, that is almost twice as much as he committed to the war back in February of this year,” Kirby said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “It’s definitely a sign that he’s struggling.”

Kirby’s comments came after Putin reported the fractional preparation of reservists in a prerecorded location on state TV prior in the day. It was a critical heightening from Putin, following Ukraine’s effective recovery of an area in the north — including pressure from the Kremlin to spread out its subsequent stages in light of Kyiv’s advances on the war zone.

John Kirby: Putin calling up more troops for Ukraine war is a ‘sign that he’s struggling’In the national address, Putin also backed  plans to annex occupied areas in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region and the country’s southern Kherson region, and he threatened the use of nuclear weapons if Kyiv continues its fight to reclaim the territory.

“When the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people,” Putin said. “This is not a bluff.”

The Russian leader went on to make false claims about the West’s nuclear threats against Russia, accusing the U.S. and its allies of attempting to “destroy” his country. He bragged about Moscow’s nuclear capabilities.

“Those who are trying to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the wind patterns can also turn in their direction,” Putin said.

Kirby on Wednesday said will be there in a jiffy “serious results” in the event that Russia utilizes atomic weapons against Ukraine and said the U.S. continuously takes “this sort of way of talking genuinely.”

“It’s irresponsible rhetoric for a nuclear power to talk that way, but it’s not atypical for how he’s been talking the last seven months, and we take it seriously. We are monitoring as best we can their strategic posture so that if we have to, we can alter ours,” Kirby said. “We’ve seen no indication that that’s required right now.”

John Kirby: Putin calling up more troops for Ukraine war is a ‘sign that he’s struggling’ MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed a “fractional preparation” of Russia’s military on Wednesday morning — marking a pronouncement that will send Russians who have gone through military preparation to join the battle in Ukraine while avoiding a hard and fast draft.

“Only those citizens will be drafted to military service who are currently in the reserve and first of all those who have served in the army, who have certain professions and have necessary experience,” will be recruited for the campaign, said Putin in a televised address to the nation.

The announcement came just a day after some Russian-controlled areas in Ukraine announced plans for referendums on becoming part of Russia. The choreographed series of events was reminiscent of the Russian leader’s announcement to send tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February

Putin’s Wednesday declaration likewise came as his nation has attempted to renew its battling force in Ukraine and endured difficulties on the combat zone in the midst of a flooding Ukrainian counteroffensive.

In a separate television interview, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russia would immediately call up 300,000 reservists to “hold the line at the front” in Ukraine.

Addressing world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday morning, President Biden said that “Russia has shamelessly violated the core tenets of the United Nations charter” by invading Ukraine.

“Putin claims he had to act because Russia was threatened,” the president said. “No one threatened Russia. And no one other than Russia sought conflict.”

U.S. Minister to Ukraine Bridget Verge tweeted that Russia is appearing “indications of shortcoming” and “disappointment” for heightening the conflict with Ukraine and promised, “The US won’t ever perceive Russia’s case to a purportedly attached Ukrainian area, and we will keep on remaining with Ukraine however long it takes.”

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who delivered remarks to the General Assembly via video late Wednesday afternoon, urged punishment for Russia and said, “We can return the Ukrainian flag to our entire territory. We can do it with the force of arms. But we need time.”

In his position, Putin said the bigger power was fundamental as Ukraine kept on getting weighty weaponry from an “aggregate West” aim on “debilitating, secluding, and obliterating Russia.”

The Russian leader also insisted Russia had a moral obligation to protect civilians in partially Russian-occupied portions of Ukraine as they held a series of “referendums” aimed at joining the Russian Federation later this week.

Putin additionally blamed Western powers for furnishing Ukraine with long-range weapon frameworks that can strike profoundly into the Russian region — and again blamed Ukraine and its partners for threatening Russia with atomic dangers. Putin cautioned Russia and its kin would utilize “every single accessible actually imply” with all due respect — noticing Russia had its own competent atomic weapons store. “This is no feign,” Putin said.

“Those who are blackmailing us with nuclear weapons should know – the rose winds can change and blow in their direction.”

John Kirby: Putin calling up more troops for Ukraine war is a ‘sign that he’s struggling’ The safeguard serve additionally gave new figures on Russian losses — saying 5,937 Russian officers had kicked the bucket battling in Ukraine. Western evaluations run a lot higher.