Postponed Putin Speech Expected On Wednesday Morning

Russian President Vladimir Putin's address to the nation is expected to be broadcast "when "the Far East wakes up" on Wednesday, according to two sources close to the Kremlin who spoke with Forbes Russia. Local reports suggest it could happen around 08:00 Moscow time (06:00 BST/01:00 ET).

• Russian media had earlier reported that Putin was about to speak at 20:00 Moscow time but the Kremlin kept watchers waiting until Russian propagandists hinted that the speech was postponed until Wednesday. It would have been Putin's first such address since his announcement of the invasion on Ukraine on February 24.
• It is speculated that Putin could announce partial mobilisation measures after the State Duma took just one day to pass legislation introducing the terms "mobilisation," "martial law" and "wartime" into the Criminal Code, toughening punishments for certain crimes during these periods.
• Putin could also touch upon sham annexation referendums in the occupied parts of Ukraine. The Russian-backed administrations in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, as well as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, said they were planning to hold "polls" on September 23-27.
• Meduza sources suggested that the Kremlin abruptly abandoned earlier plans to put the referendums on hold as “the mood is to get it all done very quickly," with the Russian side not interested in creating as much as “an illusion of legitimacy.”