A conscription decision of the Russian leadership was expected in Ukraine and does not change anything for the Ukrainian army, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

"Since it was called 'partial' mobilization, it is logical to shorten it to 'chmobilization' [goon mobilization]. This was an absolutely expected event and was not news to us. Because we know exactly the real losses of Russian troops," he said.

According to Reznikov, "they lost 50,000 killed and at least 100,000 wounded. Moreover, they were trained warriors. The absolutely logical reaction of the military-political leadership of the Kremlin is to start making up for these losses."

He suggested that after the "pseudo-referendum" the Russians might try to intimidate the West that it should not, allegedly, allow Ukraine to shoot Western weapons at "the legally defined territories of the Russian Federation."

"Since lawyers from the St. Petersburg legal school are sitting there, they will try to legitimize their lawlessness. But, excuse me, these are our temporarily occupied territories. These are the territories of Ukraine, recognized by everyone, therefore both HIMARS and the 155 mm caliber will continue to de-occupy our lands [U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that the United States is not opposed to Ukraine using Western weapons to return territories where the Russian Federation organized pseudo-referenda]," the minister said.

Speaking about the response actions of the Ukrainian side, Reznikov said: "We have the General Staff. The planning of operations and their conduct are the task of the commanders in the areas. The global development of events is Valeriy Zaluzhny and the entire General Staff. There are serious men who calculate for several moves forward, how we will react to this or that situation at the front. In particular, we receive intelligence data. There are certain steps, including those related to the formation of reserves, their preparation."

"The decision on additional mobilization will be taken by the General Staff," he said, recalling the training in the UK of 30,000 reservists – "motivated people, not driven like a herd of sheep."