Ukraine, West slam Russia military mobilization as ‘tragedy,’ sign of ‘failure’

A spokesman for Ukraine President Vlodymyr Zelensky calls the mobilization announced by Vladimir Putin a “big tragedy” for the Russian people.

In a statement to The Associated Press, Sergii Nikiforov says conscripts sent to the front line in Ukraine would face a similar fate as ill-prepared Russian forces who were repelled in an attack on Kyiv in the first days of the invasion last February.

“This is a recognition of the incapacity of the Russian professional army, which has failed in all its tasks,” Nikiforov says.

The mobilization is unlikely to bring any consequences on the battlefield for months because of a lack of training facilities and equipment.

The US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, tweets that the mobilization is a sign “of weakness, of Russian failure.”

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace echoes that assessment, describing Putin’s move as “an admission that his invasion is failing.”