Vladimir Putin news LATEST: Tyrant warns he’ll STRIKE West with WMD as he mobilises troops to ‘protect sovereignty’

VLADIMIR Putin has partially mobilised troops in an escalation of the war in Ukraine – and ominously warned the West he would hit back. Russian media speculated that he would speak to Russians on Tuesday evening, defending his forced referendums in occupied areas of Ukraine, however this was cancelled with no reason given. However, at 7am BST Putin finally spoke – and warned his nation would “protect its sovereignty”. He also reminded the West that Russia has modern weapons of destruction, saying: “I am not bluffing.” He also confirmed Russia would trigger a “partial mobilisation” of troops – which would include conscripting Russians to join the Ukraine war – after saying the West had “crossed the line”. He said: “I stress it is partial mobilisation. Only those who are in reserve will be conscripted.” Read our Ukraine-Russia live blog below for the latest udpates…