Putin is running out of options – and shopping for more

As Vladimir Putin geared up to commemorate the 80^th anniversary of the end of the Siege of Leningrad, all the chatter pointed to a second wave of mobilisation to prop up Russian troops struggling to hold on to occupied Ukrainian territories.

But the Russian president announced no such thing. Instead, addressing veterans and workers at a weapons factory in St Petersburg on Wednesday, he rallied Russians with promises of an ‘assured victory’ and pledged that he was trying to end the war. It was, in the end, a rather anticlimactic message. Vladimir Rogov, the Kremlin appointed head of Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia had promised ‘a very important statement,’ before the speech while western and Ukrainian intelligence officials predicted another mobilisation drive. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov even had to weigh in to curb the enthusiasm, denying plans to call up more troops.

Of course, Kremlin denials will not prevent Putin from announcing a further mobilisation if he so chooses.