Zelensky's complaint: Putin wants to drown Ukraine in a flood of blood'
President Volodymyr Zelensky has strongly criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin's plan to deploy reserve troops in Ukraine. He said that Putin wants to drown Ukraine in a flood of blood by sending reserve troops. Zelensky made the comments a few hours after Putin's announcement on Wednesday (September 21). Al Jazeera news.
Russia launched a 'special' military operation in February this year to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO. The operation continued for about seven months after that. In this operation, one fifth of the territory of Ukraine has been occupied by Russian forces.
However, the Ukrainian forces recently launched a counter-attack in order to recover the areas occupied by Russia. They have also had some success in the last few weeks.
Kiev has managed to liberate the city of Izium in the northeastern Kharkiv province. The country's President Putin was practically silent in the last few days about the retreat of the Russian forces. However, on Wednesday (September 21), he broke the silence and burst into a rage.
In a televised address to the nation, Putin announced the deployment of a part of the Russian reserve army in the Ukraine campaign. For this he ordered about 3 lakh soldiers to be ready for the fight. Putin made the announcement as four Russian-held regions in Ukraine announced a referendum on joining Russia.
Accusing that Europe is threatening Russia with nuclear weapons, Putin said in a speech that the West wants to destroy our country. Western countries have started a shadow war with Russia. If this continues, Moscow will respond with all the force of its vast arsenal. And Russia has enough weapons to respond. A few hours after Putin's announcement, Ukrainian President Zelensky said in an interview with the German media Bild that Putin actually wants to drown Ukraine in a flood of blood.
After Putin's announcement, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that approximately 300,000 citizens with military experience will be included in the reserve army.
He also said, 'Even then, efforts to recover the occupied territory will continue. We will proceed step by step as per the plan. I am sure we will liberate our territory.'
Earlier, Putin signed a directive (decree) to increase 1 lakh 37 thousand members in the Russian military. Currently, the total number of members in the Russian military is more than 1 million. There are about 9 lakh civilian workers. According to Putin's directive, the number of members of the armed forces of the Russian Federation is set to increase to 2.2 million 39 thousand, of which 1.1 million 50 thousand 628 will be military members.
After this announcement by China's Putin, Westerners are also shaken. In an immediate reaction to Putin's speech, British Minister Gillian Keegan told Sky News that Putin's comments should not be taken lightly. Clearly, this is a threat that we should take very seriously. Because we are not in control, I am sure he (Putin) is not in control either.
