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world news Diahuebs 22 september 2022

Putin orders partial military call-up, risking protests

(AP) — Russian President the draft could be broadened eign leaders are already call-
Vladimir Putin ordered at any moment. Notably, one ing the votes illegitimate and
a partial mobilization of clause was kept secret. nonbinding. Ukrainian Pres-
reservists Wednesday, tak- ident Volodymyr Zelenskyy
ing a risky and deeply un- Shortly after Putin's address, said they were a "sham" and
popular step that follows Russian media reported a "noise" to distract the public.
humiliating setbacks for spike in demand for plane
his troops nearly seven tickets abroad amid an appar- But Russian Defense Minis-
months after invading ent scramble to leave despite ter Sergei Shoigu, who also
Ukraine. exorbitant prices. spoke on Russian TV, said
5,937 Russian soldiers have
The Kremlin has struggled The Vesna opposition move- died in the conflict, far lower
to replenish its troops in ment called for nationwide than Western estimates.
Ukraine, reaching out for protests, although it was un-
volunteers. There even have clear how many would act, Shoigu also said that only
been reports of widespread given Russia's harsh laws those with relevant combat minating their contracts and speeches on the war, Putin
recruitment in prisons. against criticizing the military and service experience will be leaving service until the par- accused the West of engaging
and the war. mobilized, adding that about tial mobilization is no longer in "nuclear blackmail" and
In his seven-minute nation- 25 million people fit this cri- in place. noted "statements of some
ally televised address, Putin "Thousands of Russian men teria but only about 1% of high-ranking representatives
also warned the West he isn't -- our fathers, brothers and them will be mobilized. A spokesman for Zelenskyy of the leading NATO states
bluffing over using every- husbands -- will be thrown called the mobilization a "big about the possibility of using
thing at his disposal to pro- into the meat grinder of the Neither Shoigu nor Putin tragedy" for the Russian peo- nuclear weapons of mass de-
tect Russia — an apparent war. What will they be dying offered any other criteria for ple. struction against Russia."
reference to his nuclear ar- for? What will mothers and the call-up, so it wasn't clear
senal. He has previously told children be crying for?" the how many years of combat British Defense Secretary He didn't elaborate.
the West not to back Rus- group said. experience or what level of Ben Wallace described Pu-
sia against the wall and has training those to be mobi- tin's move as "an admission "To those who allow them-
rebuked NATO countries The partial mobilization or- lized must have. The decree, that his invasion is failing." selves such statements re-
for supplying weapons to der came a day after Russian- signed by Putin and released garding Russia, I want to
Ukraine. controlled regions in eastern on the Kremlin website, pro- Russian political analyst remind you that our coun-
and southern Ukraine an- vided even less clarity, stipu- Dmitry Oreshkin said it try also has various means
The total number of reserv- nounced plans for referen- lating only that "citizens of seemed "an act of despera- of destruction ... and when
ists to be called up could be dums on becoming integral the Russian Federation" will tion." He predicted that Rus- the territorial integrity of our
as high as 300,000, officials parts of Russia — a move that be drafted in the partial mo- sians will resist the mobiliza- country is threatened, to pro-
said. However, Putin's de- could eventually allow Mos- bilization. tion through "passive sabo- tect Russia and our people,
cree authorizing the partial cow to escalate the war. tage." we will certainly use all the
mobilization that took effect Another key clause in the means at our disposal," Putin
immediately offered few de- The balloting is all but cer- decree prevents most pro- In his address, which was said, adding: "It's not a bluff."
tails, raising suspicions that tain to go Moscow's way. For- fessional soldiers from ter- far shorter than previous

Some 230 whales beached in Tasmania; rescue efforts underway

(AP) — About 230 whales have been same time, in the same location, reoccur-
stranded on Tasmania's west coast, just ring in terms of stranding at that same spot
days after 14 sperm whales were found might provide some sort of indication that
beached on an island off the Australian there might be something environmental
state's northwestern coast. here," Pirotta said.

The pod stranded on Ocean Beach in Mac- David Midson, general manager of the West
quarie Harbour appears to be pilot whales Coast Council municipality, urged people to
and at least half are presumed to still be stay clear.
alive, the Department of Natural Resources
and Environment Tasmania said Wednesday. Fourteen sperm whales were discovered
Monday afternoon on King Island, part of
A team from the Marine Conservation Pro- the state of Tasmania in the Bass Strait be-
gram was assembling whale rescue gear and tween Melbourne and Tasmania's northern
heading to the area, the department said. coast.

The whales beached two years to the day af- Griffith University marine scientist Olaf
ter the largest mass-stranding in Australia's Meynecke said it's unusual for sperm whales
history was discovered in the same harbor. to wash ashore. He said that warmer tem-
peratures could also be changing the ocean
About 470 long-finned pilot whales were currents and moving the whales' traditional
found on Sept. 21, 2020, stuck on sandbars. food.
After a weeklong effort, 111 of those whales
were rescued but the rest died. "They will be going to different areas and
searching for different food sources," Mey-
Local salmon farmer Linton Kringle helped necke said. "When they do this, they are
in the 2020 rescue effort and said the latest not in the best physical condition because
challenge would be more difficult. they might be starving so this can lead them
to take more risks and maybe go closer to
Vanessa Pirotta, a wildlife scientist specializ- shore."
ing in marine mammals, said it was too early
to explain why the stranding had occurred. The pilot whale is notorious for stranding in
mass numbers, for reasons that are not en-
"The fact that we've seen similar species, the tirely understood.