As peace talks rumble on, Vladimir Putin is reportedly calling up more citizens to strengthen Russia’s military.
According to Russian news agency Interfax, Putin has ordered a further 160,000 Russian men between the ages of 18 and 30 to be called up, with the new order to be completed by 15 July.
That number marks an increase from previous military drafts, with 150,000 called up last year and 134,500 in 2022.
Conscripts in Russia last yearFile pic/Reuters
Ukraine: Russia is preparing new attacks
The move comes as Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of dragging out the peace process as it prepares for a major new offensive.
“According to our intelligence, Russia is preparing for new offensives in Sumy, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions,” the Ukrainian president said last week.
“They are dragging out negotiations and trying to drag the US into endless, meaningless discussions about fake conditions to buy time and then try to seize even more land.”
This is just as Russia and Ukraine have once again accused each other of striking energy facilities despite an agreement to avoid such targets following talks with a US delegation in Saudi Arabia.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence accused Ukraine of attacking energy infrastructure twice over the past 24 hours.
It said the power supply to households in two settlements of the Tokmakovsky district was interrupted, while more than 1,200 were without power in the Grayvoronsky district.
“Regardless of its public statements about its support for the Russian-American agreements on a phased settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, the Kyiv regime continues to unilaterally strike Russia’s energy facilities on a daily basis,” it said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s foreign minister said Russia has continued to damage Ukrainian energy facilities since the agreement not to attack such facilities was made in talks in Saudi Arabia.
Andrii Sybiha added that a Russian attack damaged an energy facility in Ukraine’s frontline city of Kherson, cutting power to 45,000 residents.
Last week, both sides accused each other of attacking a gas metering station in Sudzha.
Moscow accused Kyiv of a “double attack” while a Ukrainian national security official said Russia “again attacked the Sudzha gas transmission system” which it “does not control.”
@Sky News