Ardern hits out at Putin after meeting with Ukrainian PM. Video / NZ Herald
Recently-recruited Russian reservists have been filmed fighting back and looking dejected after being told that "playtime is over" in a disturbing new video.
In the video shared by the US ABC's Patrick Reevell, the Russian reservists are seen being sternly addressed by their commanding officer.
Responses from these new recruits seem mixed, as some sit in solemn silence while others shout at their new leader.
Another revealing video. Scene inside a mustering station in Russia where an officer yells at angry, resentful men who have been mobilized. “That’s it- playtime’s over. You’re soldiers now!” pic.twitter.com/oTfomvgsUf
After some more angry back and forth, the commanding officer puts his foot down: "You are all military men now. That's it, the games are over. You are military."
This comes as thousands of Russians flee Putin's brutal regime, amid plans to conscript a further 300,000 troops to serve in the war in Ukraine.
More than 6,000 Russians attempted to cross into Finland on Friday, leading the nation to introduce new visa restrictions.
Putin ordered the mobilisation of Russian civilians on Wednesday morning, local time, in a speech on TV in which he also made a thinly veiled threat to nuke the West.
Disturbing 'elections' taking place
The clip emerged as Western nations overnight slammed new referendums in Kremlin-controlled regions of eastern and southern Ukraine.
The polls, on whether Russia should annex these parts of Ukraine into its own territory, opened on Friday, dramatically raising the stakes of Moscow's seven-month invasion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the nation in Moscow, Russia. Photo / AP
Even as polling got under way, however, Ukrainian forces said they were clawing back territory from the Moscow-backed separatists in the very lands Russia wants to assimilate.
The votes in the four regions are the latest development in a ferocious war that United Nations investigators said had seen actions - including executions and torture - that amounted to war crimes.
"In its aggressive anti-Russian policy, the West has crossed all lines," Putin said, further accusing the West of plotting to dismantle the Russian Federation and use nuclear blackmail.
"When the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people. This is not a bluff," he said.
Russians flee
The European Union (EU) is facing a tough balancing act over how to deal with Russians fleeing military mobilisation, as some countries look to block entry and others offer possible refuge.
So far, the numbers coming to the EU seem modest as the bloc had already curtailed travel from Russia by banning direct flights and toughening up visa rules in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.
But despite the small scale, the issue is stirring debate in Brussels as EU members adopt starkly differing approaches to Russians looking to escape the fighting - some voting to block "deserters", others to protect "anyone who courageously opposes Putin's regime".
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said on Friday that it was "monitoring" the situation, amid calls for the bloc to issue guidelines to its 27 member states over how to tackle any arrivals.
