Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "partial mobilisation" of Russia’s Armed Forces on Wednesday morning.
He signed a decree which will send Russians who have completed military training to join in the fight against Ukraine, but not an all-out draft.
Putin said in a televised address that only those citizens who are in the reserve, and first of all those who served in the army and who have the necessary experience, will be drafted into military service.
This announcement was made just days after Russian-controlled regions in Ukraine announced plans to hold referendums on joining Russia.
This choreographed sequence of events reminded me of the Russian leader's February announcement of sending tens of thousand troops into Ukraine.
Putin's Wednesday announcement came at a time when his country is struggling to replenish its fighting forces in Ukraine, and has suffered setbacks on battlefields amid a growing Ukrainian counteroffensive.
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