⚡️ Kiev was reacting positively to Russia’s proposals after start of military operation, but West instructed Ukraine to abandon negotiations - Putin

⚡️ ⚡️Putin instructs governmentt, defense ministry to determine legal status of volunteers and Donbass militias as soon as possible

⚡️ The decision on partial mobilization corresponds to the current state of affairs, Putin says

⚡️ A decree on partial mobilization has been signed: Putin

⚡️ Decree on partial mobilization stipulates additional measures for state defense orders - Putin

⚡️ Putin: Western countries are pushing Kiev to transfer hostilities to Russia

⚡️ Putin: If its territorial integrity is threatened, Russia will use all available means; this is not a bluff

⚡️ Decree on partial mobilization comes into force from the day of its official publication - Kremlin

⚡️ Russia's Defense Minister Shoigu: Russia is at war with the collective West

⚡️ West supplies weapons to Ukraine in huge volumes, Shoigu says

⚡️ Ukraine's casualty count amounts to more than 100,000 people: 61,207 dead and 49,368 wounded, Shoigu says

⚡️ The loss of the Russian Armed Forces totals 5,937 dead, Shoigu says

📹 Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday that he'd signed a decree on partial mobilization in the country.

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📹 Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday accused the West of engaging in nuclear blackmail against Russia, in a speech announcing a partial mobilisation in the country.

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❗️Highlights from Russia's Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu during today's address on Donbass:

▪️ Ukraine using West-supplied weapons against civilian population more and more often;

▪️ Over 150 western military experts are operating in Kiev;

▪️ Over 2,000 mercenaries killed in Ukraine, more than 1,000 remain.

▪️ Ukraine lost half of its military; casualty count amounts to more than 100,000 people: 61,207 dead and 49,368 wounded;

▪️ The loss of the Russian Armed Forces totals 5,937 dead;

▪️ Partial mobilization is primarily needed to control the contact line of 1 thousand km and the liberated territories.

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📹 Russian MoD has published footage showing Su-25 assault fighters launch air missile attacks at AFU facilities and equipment.

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🇨🇳 The Chinese armed forces remain on high alert after USS Higgins and Canada's HMSC Vancouver proceeded in the Taiwan Strait amid heightened tensions in the region, spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), Senior Colonel Shi Yi, said on Wednesday.

▪️ On Tuesday, the US 7th Fleet said that the naval ships had transited the Taiwan Strait to demonstrate the "commitment of the United States and our allies and partners to a free and open Indo-Pacific."

🗯 "The US torpedo-boat destroyer USS Higgins and the Canadian frigate HMSC Vancouver proceeded via the Taiwan Strait on September 20. The eastern zone of the PLA combat command instructed that naval and air forces accompany the vessels along the entire route. The command units maintain high combat readiness to rapidly resist all threats and provocations and resolutely defend state sovereignty and territorial integrity," Shi said on WeChat.

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🇦🇫WATCH: The footage from the explosion site in Kabul. Media reports, that it was a gas explosion in a restaurant near the energy company's office.

⚡️ Touching upon the issue of the military costs of the armed conflict in Ukraine, Sergei Shoigu estimated that Kiev has lost half of its army, which originally had about 200,000 troops at the initial stage of Moscow’s special operation.

▪️ Over 2,000 foreign mercenaries were eliminated in Ukraine in the past months by Russians, the minister said, adding that 1,000 remain at the combat zone.

▪️ Russian losses, Shoigu noted, amount to 5,937, noting that the servicemen were “courageously fulfilling their duties.”

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⚡️Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov's latest statements:

▪️At the moment there are no agreed-upon communication formats yet, concerning a possible Putin-Macron conversation;

▪️The mobilization of 300,000 people within the framework of partial mobilization will not be instantaneous;

▪️Putin did not hold any telephone conversations with foreign leaders on the eve of his address to the nation;

▪️The Russian government will determine as soon as possible the categories of citizens ennoscriptd to a deferral from partial mobilization;

▪️The Kremlin cannot disclose the unpublished seventh paragraph of the decree on partial mobilization in Russia, as it is for the official use;

▪️There are no exact plans for the date of the announcement of the President's message, the Kremlin will provide it in a timely manner.

⚡️Kremlin on Borrell’s statement about tribunal on Russians: he is not respected here as EU foreign policy chief.