Russian leader Vladimir Putin was tonight scheduled to make a national address to his nation for the first time since he invaded Ukraine.
Putin was expected to order the full mobilisation of his country's military which could see up to two million reservists scrambled to join his operation.
Sergei Markov, a Russian political scientist who is a former close advisor to Vladimir Putin, says the president's national address has been delayed until tomorrow.
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It comes just as as pro-Russian authorities in the Donbas region revealed they will hold referendums on joining Russia this week.
Both regions in eastern Ukraine are expected to hold votes between September 23 and 27.
What else is happening in Ukraine Russia war?
- Russia paved the way for the formal annexation of swathes of Ukrainian territory, backing referendum plans in areas its soldiers control in a direct challenge to the West that could sharply escalate the war.
- U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington rejected any such referendums "unequivocally". French
- President Emmanuel Macron and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda both described the planned votes as "parody."
- U.S. President Joe Biden will try to rally the world against Russia's invasion of Ukraine in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, saying Moscow's war against its neighbour violates the tenets of the U.N. charter.
- Zelenskiy has hinted he would use a video address to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday to call on countries to accelerate weapons and aid deliveries.
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