Putin orders troop conscription in Ukraine war escalation

Destroyed cars are seen, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in the town of Izium, recently liberated by Ukrainian Armed Forces, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine September 20, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

KYIV/NEW YORK/GDANSK, Poland (Reuters) -President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's first wartime mobilisation since World War Two on Wednesday, shocking citizens with what Western countries described as an act of desperation in the face of a losing war.

Putin made the announcement in a televised address in which he also announced moves to annex swaths of Ukrainian territory and threatened to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia, declaring: "It's not a bluff".