"You only have one week left": Reznikov warns Russians about Putin's plans

Oleksii Reznikov, the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, has warned the Russians that their leadership is preparing for a new "wave" of mobilisation and planning to close the borders within a week.

Source: Reznikov's video address

Quote: "On the eve of the New Year, I want to address the citizens of Russia who are liable for military service. First of all, this concerns residents of major Russian cities.

I know for sure that you have about one week when there is at least some choice left.

In early January, the Russian authorities will close the borders for men, then declare martial law and begin another wave of mobilisation. The borders will also be closed in Belarus."

Details: Reznikov said he was not asking Russians to take his word for it, but he asked them this question: "When you go to [fight in] a war where you could die or become crippled for the rest of your life, what exactly will you be fighting for?"

He also criticised the "plan" of the Russian military, which has been claiming for 10 months that everything was going "according to plan": "According to this "plan", tens of thousands of convicts are being recruited into a private military company from prisons. The owner of this company is allowed to wipe his feet on the regular Russian military servicemen while ordinary people are being thrown in prison for ‘discrediting the army’."

According to this plan, Reznikov claims, for six months the Russians have been unsuccessfully attacking the small Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been slaughtered.

Also, according to the "plan" of the occupiers, Sweden and Finland are finalising their accession to NATO, although exactly one year ago these countries wanted to maintain neutrality.

The Minister of Defence added that the leadership of the Russian Federation realised long ago that their idea of waging war against Ukraine has turned into a disaster for them: "It is in Russia’s interests to end this war as soon as possible."

Quote: "Those people who started this bloody massacre, who have committed horrendous war crimes, are now telling you that you need to unite and defend Russia. Because there are enemies everywhere.

They are intimidating you [Russians] by saying that in the event of defeat, reprisals will allegedly be inflicted on all Russians, all your hard-earned money will be taken away, there will be a tribunal, etc. All this is a lie. You are being deceived again."

Details: In fact, it is the Russian authorities that want to protect themselves and their position and wealth.

Quote: "They can tell you that there is some kind of ‘plan B’. Some kind of secret weapon [that guarantees] that victories will soon come again.

But their whole plan is to prolong the war, to kill as many people as possible and drive the situation into a dead end. You will be sent to die just for that.

Now let me speak not as the Minister of Defence, but as a lawyer.

All citizens of Russia will indirectly pay for the war that has been instigated. Due to [actions taken by] its current leaders, Russia will be forced to compensate for the damage caused to Ukraine for several generations."

Background:

• According to the head of Ukrainian Defence Intelligence, the Russian leadership has decided to start a new wave of mobilisation from 5 January 2023, due to the lack of manpower.
• According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, during the "first wave" of mobilisation, at least 300,000 people joined the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and 150,000 of those mobilised are said to be in Ukraine.
• At the end of October, Putin declared that the "partial mobilisation" was over. However, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine says that Russia has continued mobilisation in a covert mode, despite official statements about its completion.

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