[Daily Beast] Vladimir Putin’s defense minister sent a clear message to the people of Russia on Wednesday: Their country is at war not just with Ukraine, but with the entirety of the West."I cannot but emphasize the fact that today, we are at war not so much with Ukraine and the Ukrainian army as with the collective West," Sergei Shoigu said in a televised speech, according to TASS.
"At this point, we are really at war with the collective West, with NATO," Shoigu added.
Shoigu’s warning comes as Putin announces that Russia will be running a "partial mobilization" to better tackle the war in Ukraine, days after a series of resounding defeats on the battlefield in Ukraine as Ukrainian forces have run successful counteroffensives in the south and northeast. In a speech announcing the move Wednesday morning, Putin suggested that the West had been considering using nuclear weapons against Russia and threatened nuclear weapons use in return—without providing any evidence of the West's supposed threats.
"To those who allow themselves such statements regarding Russia, I want to remind you that our country also has various means of destruction," Putin said. "It’s not a bluff."