Western powers criticise Putin for calling up 300,000 reservists to fight in Ukraine

Western powers have strongly criticised Russian president Vladimir Putin after he called up military reserves to fight in Ukraine and threatened to use nuclear weapons to defend his country in what they dismissed as a sign of weakness amid defeats on the battlefield.

Mr Putin portrayed his invasion of Ukraine as a fight for Russia’s survival against a hostile West, and backed forthcoming “referendums” in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine that would pave the way for Moscow to annex some 90,000sq km of territory – an area bigger than the island of Ireland.

In a clear escalation of his war on Ukraine, Mr Putin announced Russia’s first mobilisation of its reserves since the second World War, in a move that Moscow said would add 300,000 men with military experience to its fighting force in Ukraine.

“Today our armed forces…are fighting on a line of contact that is over 1,000km long, fighting not only against neo-Nazi units but actually the entire military machine of the collective West,” Mr Putin said, repeating unfounded claims that Ukraine, a pro-western democracy, is run by fascists.

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The former KGB officer argued that the West wants to “weaken, divide and ultimately destroy our country” and cause a repeat of the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and break up Russia “into numerous regions that would be at deadly feud with each other”.

He said: “The West has gone too far in its aggressive anti-Russia policy, making endless threats to our country and people… In the event of a threat to the territorial integrity of our country and to defend Russia and our people, we will certainly make use of all weapon systems available to us. This is not a bluff.

“The citizens of Russia can be sure that… our independence and freedom will be ensured – I will emphasise this again – with all means at our disposal. And those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the prevailing winds can turn in their direction.”

German chancellor Olaf Scholz called the move “an act of desperation”.

“Russia cannot win this criminal war. Putin completely underestimated the situation from the very beginning – the will of Ukraine to resist and the unity of its friends,” he wrote on Twitter. “The planned sham referendums are an attempt to conquer the neighbour’s country by force. We will not accept that. In our world law must prevail over violence. Violence cannot be stronger than law.”

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Speaking at the United Nations in New York, US president Joe Biden strongly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a brutal, needless war chosen by one man. He said the war was about extinguishing the right of Ukraine to exist as a state and as a people. Mr Biden added that wherever people lived or whatever they believed, “that should make your blood run cold”.

“Let us speak plainly: A permanent member of the United Nations security council invaded its neighbour, attempted to erase the sovereign state from the map. Russia has shamelessly violated the core tenets of the United Nations charter.”

Mr Biden said the Kremlin was organising “a sham referendum to try to annex parts of Ukraine, an extremely significant violation of the UN charter”.

“This world should see these outrageous acts for what they are. Putin claims he had to act because Russia was threatened, but no one threatened Russia, and no one other than Russia sought conflict.”

He also accused Russia of making irresponsible nuclear threats. He said a nuclear war “cannot be won and must never be fought”.