Russian mobilization prompts backlash as Ukraine annexation effort plows ahead

Russia launched new attacks on Ukraine on Sunday, using missiles and Iranian kamikaze drones to strike Odessa and the Zaporizhzhia region, as protesters in several Russian cities demonstrated against the war effort and a new mass conscription.

Russia’s drive to mobilize 300,000 new fighters and to stage illegal “referendums” in four occupied regions of Ukraine mark a sharp escalation by President Vladimir Putin, as he tries to hold the line despite multiple failures in his ongoing invasion, including a major retreat in the Kharkiv region earlier this month.