The European Union (EU) considered the decision announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin this Wednesday (21) to mobilize more
a thousand citizens in the midst of the conflict with Ukraine and assured that the head of state “is only interested in advancing and continuing his destructive war”.
“President Putin’s speech, and the announcements he made, both on the referendum (in the occupied Ukrainian territories) and on the partial mobilization, are further proof that Putin is not interested in peace, he is interested in escalating his war of aggression,” said Peter Stano, spokesman voice of the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell.
The US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, also called the convening of referendums as “signs of weakness” and “failure” in the territories occupied by Russia and the partial mobilization decreed by the Russian president.
“The United States will never recognize the allegations of Russia wish to supposedly annex Ukrainian territory, and we will continue to support Ukraine for as long as necessary,” the diplomat wrote on Twitter.
Russian pacifists demonstrate
The Vesná peace movement called a national protest in Russia against partial mobilization. Under the slogan “No to mobilization”, Russian citizens were called to protest in their cities, according to the organization on its Telegram channel.
Vesná says Putin’s decision means that “thousands of Russian men, our fathers, brothers and husbands, will be thrown into the meat grinder of war”. “Why will mothers and children cry? To Putin’s palace?”, asks the movement.
“Now the war will really reach every home and every family. The authorities said that only the ‘professionals’ were fighting and they would win. Turns out they weren’t winning and prisoners started being recruited to the front. And now the mobilization has been announced”, he said.
According to with the movement, those summoned “must die to correct the mistakes of the Putin regime, which plunged Russia into monstrous carnage, isolation and poverty”, he added.
According to the organization , since the beginning of the Russian military campaign in Ukraine, there have been 16.437 arrests in protests against the intervention.
