Def Min-Only 1% Of Mobilisation Potential Will Be Used

Comments from Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu regarding the partial mobilisation of reserve forces announced earlier this morning by President Vladimir Putin.

• Max Seddon at the FT: 'Shoigu [...] describes the battlefield conditions in Ukraine as "difficult.". "We are not fighting with Ukraine, but with the collective west." And more nuclear threats: "All types of arms, including the nuclear triad, are fulfilling their tasks." More from Shoigu: – calling up the reserves adds about 300,000 men to Russia's forces– "These are not people who've never seen or heard anything about the army."– still trying to calm the general public. Students are exempt and "only 1% of mobilization potential" will be used."
• Shoigu states that conscripts will only serve on the territory of the Russian Federation. However, if the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, and Kherson are officially annexed by Russia, then they could argue that the conscripts can fight on this territory.
• Annexation would also raise the risk of Russia escalating the conflict to the point of using tactical nuclear weapons. The Kremlin could argue that Ukraine and the West are directly attacking the Russian nation and therefore any method of defence is valid to be deployed, as opposed to presently where Russia's actions in the Donbas are framed as a 'special military operation' on Ukrainian soil.