A truly weak and scared country would preemptively reject those people’s will and never publicly hint that all options are on the table for defending them if they decide to join their country. A truly confident and strong country, however, would let the world know that they’ll treat those people as their own citizens and their land as their integral territory if they vote to join their country.
The US-led West’s Golden Billion is spinning Russia’s partial mobilization of experienced reservists as supposedly being driven by fear and weakness. According to them, Moscow is on the backfoot after its latest setback in Kharkov Region, which is why it’s hastily calling some of its citizens to arms in a desperate bid to avoid more losses in Ukraine. Those who fall for this weaponized information warfare narrative expect Russia to inevitably be defeated, more than likely sooner than later, as they imagine.
The reality is the opposite, however, since Russia’s latest move is being carried out from a position of confidence and strength. It doesn’t doubt that the oppressed people of the four former Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk, and Zaporozhye will vote to incorporate their polities into the Russian Federation following their upcoming referenda. With that expectation in mind, Moscow is preparing to defend what would by then be its new borders, ergo the partial mobilization.
The time between now and the completion of this aforementioned military process is extremely sensitive because NATO might push Kiev to launch an overwhelming conventional attack against what could very likely by then be considered by the Kremlin to be Russian territory. That could in turn lead to the worst-case scenario of Moscow resorting to tactical nukes in accordance with its doctrine in order to defend its existence as a sovereign state in the face of that threat as the absolute last resort if need be.
While President Putin would certainly prefer to defend his civilization-state through non-nuclear means, he already hinted that all options are on the table during his televised address to the Russian people on Wednesday. In his own words, “In the event of a threat to the territorial integrity of our country and to defend Russia and our people, we will certainly make use of all weapon systems available to us. This is not a bluff.” This echoes what he warned on 24 February when announcing the special operation.
Back then, he said that “even after the dissolution of the USSR and losing a considerable part of its capabilities, today’s Russia remains one of the most powerful nuclear states. Moreover, it has a certain advantage in several cutting-edge weapons. In this context, there should be no doubt for anyone that any potential aggressor will face defeat and ominous consequences should it directly attack our country.”
President Putin then added at the end of his historic speech that “No matter who tries to stand in our way or all the more so create threats for our country and our people, they must know that Russia will respond immediately, and the consequences will be such as you have never seen in your entire history. No matter how the events unfold, we are ready. All the necessary decisions in this regard have been taken. I hope that my words will be heard.”
The difference between then and now is that Kiev’s NATO-backed attacks against its four former regions might soon be regraded not as part of its over eight-year-long civil war, but as attacks against Russia itself in the event that those polities vote to join the Russian Federation like many expect to happen. This means that President Putin wouldn’t hesitate to “certainly make use of all weapons systems” available to his armed forces in order to defend what he’d consider to be Russia and his own people.
As he himself said, “This is not a bluff”, which he wouldn’t reaffirm about something so serious as hinting at the use of tactical nuclear options in self-defense as a last resort if his country was really as weak and scared as the Golden Billion is trying to manipulate everyone into thinking that it is. To the contrary, that statement confirms just how confident and strong this newly restored world power is if it would countenance such a scenario to defend itself after democratically incorporating four new polities.
A truly weak and scared country would preemptively reject those people’s will and never publicly hint that all options are on the table for defending them if they decide to join their country. Through hook or by crook, either by directly asking them to indefinitely delay the vote under whatever pretext or physically stopping them from casting their ballots if they refuse, such a truly weak and scared country would never let those referenda proceed if they weren’t prepared to respect the outcome.
A truly confident and strong country, however, would let the world know that they’ll treat those people as their own citizens and their land as their integral territory if they vote to join their country. Through the partial mobilization of its reservists in preparation of that likely scenario and by hinting at the tactical nuclear option in the worst-case scenario for defending them as a last resort if an unstoppable attack occurs prior to the mobilization’s completion, Russia is showcasing its confidence and strength.
Neither are misguided either, unlike the Golden Billion’s, the latter of whom remain under the delusion of discredited supremacist views about their self-proclaimed “exceptionalism” that’ll inevitably bring about the so-called “end of history”. The difference is that Russia is seriously preparing to flex its confidence and strength to the max if need be in defense of its legitimate national security red lines connected to its existential survival, which would shatter the West’s false confidence and strength.
For these reasons, nobody should doubt Russia’s resolve in defending its people and territory exactly as President Putin just warned his civilization-state’s adversaries, including in the implied scenario of having to employ all means at his disposal if newly incorporate regions are victimized by an overwhelming NATO-backed conventional attack. Unlike what the West’s propagandists claim, that wouldn’t make him a “monster, madman, or mastermind”, but a confident, strong, and patriotic leader.
In other news: https://twitter.com/WarMonitor3/status/1576148827509489665