For the first time in 6 months, Russia finds out how many soldiers have been killed in Ukraine

Speaking after President Vladimir Putin, who announced a partial mobilization of the country, which warns the continuation and escalation of the conflict, Shoigu added that Russia would call 300 thousand militias.

This was the first time Russia provided an official figure of soldiers who have lost their lives in conflict since March 25th, a month after the start of the war. At the time, Moscow said 1351 soldiers had died. The Pentagon declared in August that 70-80 thousand Russian soldiers died or were wounded in the war, while in July, 15 thousand soldiers had passed away. But Shoigu dismissed these claims, saying 90% of wounded soldiers have returned to the front of the war.

Wednesday morning, in a challenging speech signaling the escalation of the military campaign in Ukraine and the clash with the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced partial national mobilization for the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin chief clarified this under the understanding of the involvement of the reserve forces, which will be called from Wednesday to protect the Russian people in lands liberated in Ukraine.

Citizens who will be mobilized, according to him, will have full status of the armed forces. I think it's necessary to support the Defence Ministry's proposal for partial mobilization in Russia. I repeat: We're only talking about partial mobilization. Only citizens currently army reserve will be called, and the priority will be those who have served in the armed forces and who have special military specialisation”, Putin said.

Putin addressed the West in his speech with threatening tones, where he said their goal is to weaken and destroy Russia. The president warned he would exploit all available means to protect the country from those he said were using nuclear blackmail against Russia.

In aggressive anti-Russian policy, the West has exceeded any limits. Nuclear blackmail has now come into play. I refer not only to the bombing of the West-led Zaporizina plant but also to statements by several representatives of NATO states about the possibility of using nuclear weapons against Russia. I want to remind those who allow themselves to make such statements, that our country has an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in some even more modern areas than those of NATO. We will without a doubt use all available means to protect the people, this is not a”, Putin said.

The Kremlin's number one supported the planned referenda on territories controlled by Russia, in Donbas, Kherson and Zaporizija. He said citizens living in areas occupied by Russians no longer want to be under the yoke of neonazis.