Putin wants to annex the occupied territories to accuse the Armed Forces of Ukraine of “attacking Russia.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statements on “referendums” in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine were primarily addressed to an internal Russian audience. This was reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
According to military analysts, in this way Putin hopes to improve the possibility of the formation of Russian troops, urging citizens to voluntarily go to war to “protect” the territories that have recently been “annexed” in the Russian Federation.
“Putin and his advisers seem to realize that current Russian forces are insufficient to occupy Ukraine and that efforts to rapidly build up large troops through voluntary mobilization are ending up inadequately meeting the needs of Russian military,” ISW said in a statement. .
According to experts, in this way Putin artificially creates legal and informational conditions for improving the formation of the Russian army, without resorting to expanded conscription, changing the balance of carrots and sticks used by the Kremlin to encourage voluntary action.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, “Putin, through the annexation, aims to contain the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to consider the liberation of Ukrainian territories as an attack on the Russian Federation.”
Russian officials and propagandists have issued vague warnings that “violating Russian territory is a crime and committing this crime allows the use of all means of self-defense,” said the military analyst.
ISW says that such statements by the Russians indicate a clear panic and are made to try to increase the global fear of nuclear escalation.
It will be recalled that the occupiers announced their intention to hold pseudo-referendums on joining Russia from September 23 to 27 in ORDLO, as well as in the occupied territories of Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
The intentions of the Russian Federation to hold pseudo-referendums have been severely criticized in the European Union and NATO, as well as in a number of developed countries in the world.
An announcement appeared in the Russian information space that on the evening of September 20, Putin will speak about pseudo-referendums in the occupied territories of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. However, his appeal did not take place and information appeared in the media that Putin’s video message will be shown on Wednesday, September 21.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.