Putin: Call-up of Russian reservists to finish in two weeks
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he expects a mobilisation of army reservists, which he ordered last month to bolster his country's troops in Ukraine, to be completed in two weeks.
Mr Putin told reporters after attending a summit in Kazakhstan that 222,000 of the 300,000 reservists the Russian defence ministry said would be called up have been mobilised.
A total of 33,000 of them are already in military units and 16,000 are involved in combat, the Russian leader said.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) intelligence reported that "contingents of mobilised Russian reservists have been deployed to Ukraine over the last two weeks".
Highlighted in the latest intelligence report was that "their average level of personal equipment is almost certainly lower than the already poor provision of previously deployed troops".
Putin believes his "actions are correct and timely"
The Russian President told reporters he does not regret starting the conflict and "did not set out to destroy Ukraine" when he ordered Russian troops to invade nearly eight months ago.
"What is happening today is unpleasant, to put it mildly," he said after attending a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Kazakhstan's capital.
"But we would have had all this a little later, only under worse conditions for us, that's all. So my actions are correct and timely."
The call-up, announced by Mr Putin in September, has proved hugely unpopular in Russia, where almost all men under the age of 65 are registered as reservists.
The Kremlin has also faced domestic criticism of its handling of the war, increasing pressure on the Russian President to do more to turn the tide in Russia's favour.
The Russian leader initially described the mobilisation as "partial" and said only those with combat or service experience would be drafted.
However, a decree he signed outlined almost no specific criteria.
Watch: Russian troops seen in a video reportedly surrendering from tank in Kherson earlier this month.
Russian media reports have described attempts to round up men without relevant experience, including those ineligible for service for medical reasons. In the wake of the President's mobilisation order, tens of thousands of men left Russia.
Mr Putin also said on Friday there was no need for more widespread attacks against Ukraine, such as those Russia launched on Monday in retaliation for an 8 October truck bomb explosion on a prized bridge linking Russia to Crimea, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014.
The Kerch Bridge explosion followed Ukraine's recapturing of occupied areas in the country's east and south in continuing counteroffensives that have restored Ukrainian confidence and embarrassed Russia's military.
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