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,
inflicted upon russia. that s dead and wounded. unclear where they get those numbers from but certainly anecdotally here we hear a lot of russian losses. that s why we re seeing very irregular forces being pushed towards the front line. so many are not regular russian units. they re kind of militia from the so-called separatists units and they re controlled and occupied by russian forces. it is a huge mix and one that crumbled around kharkiv. so the big challenge for moscow is to try to make this possible mobilization solve their manpower issues, change it with how much they are involved. in most russian cities, life carries on as normal as if there isn t a war going on. and see if they can do anything to change it on the battlefield which frankly has been atrociously going in the wrong direction for russia. kristin? nick peyton walsh, thank you