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Vladimir Putin escalated Russia’s war in Ukraine this week by announcing a partial mobilisation of the country’s reserve military and issuing a barely veiled threat to NATO countries. He also announced that referendums to join the Russian Federation would be held in the next few days in areas of Ukraine currently occupied by his troops.
Tatyana Malyarenko of the Odesa Academy of Law in Ukraine and Stefan Wolff of the University of Birmingham in the UK have put Putin’s words into context, explaining that holding spurious plebiscites of this nature has long been part of his playbook, but that in the current situation they add a huge layer of risk for all parties.
Russia’s recent setbacks on the battlefield have left Putin under pressure and increasingly isolated on the international stage, as this decision to escalate the crisis clearly indicates. You can follow all The Conversation’s coverage of the war in Ukraine here and do consider signing up for our special weekly Ukraine Recap newsletter.
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Vladimir Putin addressed the Russian people for less than 20 minutes to outline his plan for partial mobilisation and referendums in areas held by invading Russian troops.
EPA-EFE/Maxim Shipenkov
Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham; Tatyana Malyarenko, National University Odesa Law Academy
Vladimir Putin’s televised address to the Russian people is a desperate attempt to raise the stakes over the war in Ukraine.
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A ‘V’ for victory for Giorgia Meloni?
Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images
Julia Khrebtan-Hörhager, Colorado State University; Evgeniya Pyatovskaya, University of South Florida
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An endangered female orca leaps from the water in Puget Sound, west of Seattle.
(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
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Danny Bradlow, University of Pretoria
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D. Brian Blank, Mississippi State University
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Carolyn Hoyle, University of Oxford; Lucy Harry, University of Oxford; Parvais Jabbar, University of Oxford
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Svetla Ben-Itzhak, Air University
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Jean Lantz Reisz, University of Southern California
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Neil Walsh, Liverpool John Moores University
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Jacqueline Warwick, Dalhousie University
What do we love about seeing children perform? And how do their performances shape our understanding of childhood?
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