Putin says Russia may be fighting in Ukraine for a long time - Reuters

LONDON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said connected Wednesday that his service could beryllium warring successful Ukraine for a agelong time, but helium saw "no sense" successful mobilising further soldiers astatine this point.

"As for the duration of the peculiar subject operation, well, of course, this tin beryllium a agelong process," Putin said, utilizing his preferred word for Russia's invasion, begun successful February.

In a televised gathering of his Human Rights Council that was dominated by the war, Putin said Russians would "defend ourselves with each the means astatine our disposal", asserting that Russia was seen successful the West arsenic "a second-class state that has nary close to beryllium astatine all".

He said the hazard of atomic warfare was increasing - the latest successful a bid of specified warnings - but that Russia saw its arsenal arsenic a means to retaliate, not to onslaught first.

"We haven't gone mad, we realise what atomic weapons are," Putin said. "We person these means successful much precocious and modern signifier than immoderate different atomic state ... But we aren't astir to tally astir the satellite brandishing this limb similar a razor."

He said determination was nary crushed for a 2nd mobilisation astatine this point, aft a call-up of astatine slightest 300,000 reservists successful September and October.

Putin said 150,000 of these were deployed successful Ukraine: 77,000 successful combat units and the others successful antiaircraft functions. The remaining 150,000 were inactive astatine grooming centres.

"Under these conditions, speech astir immoderate further mobilisation measures simply makes nary sense," helium said.

Putin has seldom discussed the apt duration of the war, though helium boasted successful July that Russia was conscionable getting started.

Since then, Russia has been forced into important retreats, but Putin has said helium has nary regrets astir launching a warfare that is Europe's astir devastating since World War Two.

COURT CASES

Putin said Russia had already achieved a "significant result" with the acquisition of "new territories" successful Ukraine - a notation to the annexation of 4 partially occupied regions successful September that Kyiv and astir members of the United Nations condemned arsenic illegal.

He said Russia had made the Sea of Azov - bounded by Russia and Russian-occupied territory - its "internal sea". He said that had been an aspiration of Peter the Great - the 17th- and 18th-century warrior tsar to whom Putin has compared himself successful the past.

Putin meets annually with his Human Rights Council, a assemblage that critics accidental has enabled him to wage articulator work to civic freedoms portion expanding repression and stamping retired dissent.

He expressed outrage that the West was turning a unsighted oculus to what helium said was nonstop Ukrainian shelling of residential areas successful the Russian-occupied Donbas portion of eastbound Ukraine.

Ukraine has suffered dense civilian casualties passim the war, though Russia denies targeting civilians. The United Nations human rights office said connected Wednesday that Russian forces had killed astatine slightest 441 civilians successful the aboriginal days of their invasion, documenting attacks successful dozens of towns and summary executions that it said mightiness beryllium warfare crimes. Moscow did not instantly respond.

While the gathering was successful progress, quality emerged that erstwhile defence newsman Ivan Safronov had failed successful an appeal against a 22-year jailhouse condemnation for treason. He was accused of betraying authorities secrets astir defence contracts, though helium argued that each the worldly was disposable from unfastened sources.

Ilya Yashin, an absorption councillor successful Moscow who spoke retired against the war, awaits sentencing this week nether a instrumentality passed aft the penetration that criminalises the dispersed of "false information" astir the equipped forces. The prosecution is seeking a nine-year term.

Putin past period removed 10 members of the assembly and brought successful 4 caller ones including Alexander Kots, a pro-war blogger and analogous for the mass-circulation paper Komsomolskaya Pravda.

Several of the ousted members had said they planned to usage the gathering with Putin to rise topics including the laws against dissent and the listing of Kremlin critics arsenic "foreign agents".

Reporting by Reuters, penning by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Kevin Liffey

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.