is a partial mobilization. putin also made an ominous pledge to use all means to, in his words, defend his country. translator: this is not a bluff. the citizens of russia can be sure that the territorial integrity of our homeland, independence and freedom will be ensured and those that try to black mail us with nuclear weapons should know that the prevailing winds can turn in their direction. reporter: putin s rare national address comes amid a fierce counter offensive from ukraine s forces and the kremlin-backed push for referendums that could lead to moscow annexing occupied parts of ukraine. let s go to cnn s international security editor nick peyton walsh. nick, a partial mobilization. i mean, this sounds pretty drastic but could putin have gone even further? reporter: yes, certainly could have. this is not the mass mobilization which many during the 12-hour delay before the speech came out this morning were thinking might have been on the cards. he is, it seems,
that it s already seeing and seeing at a slower pace and possibly try and disrupt the sham referendums. a big move by moscow. not as big as they could potentially have made and certainly, i think, while russia s tried to grasp narrative to show it s in control of the story and the war again, it is doing so in a way which conveys, i have to say, weakness rather than a position of strength. kristen? nick, this partial mobilization, how much of this do you think is going to change things in a real way on the ground there? just remains to be seen how many people they re actually able to get to answer or forcibly answer this call. reserves, people with military experience, it s highly likely that that relatively small number of individuals in russia have already been called upon to try and solve the manpower crisis. remember, the united states has suggested that as many as 80,000 casualties may have been