Putin considers sending the Russians to the front to fight

• Live Russia-Ukraine War: last minute

• War Russia prepares express referendums to annex the occupied regions in the face of Ukraine's offensive

Increasingly cornered in its old conquests of

and

after the Ukrainian counteroffensive,

is considering sending the Russians to fight at the front.

At the moment the lower house of the Russian Parliament today introduced the concepts of "mobilization" and "martial law" in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, preparing the legislative ground while waiting for Russian President

to announce his next coup tonight in a message to the nation.

Surrendering to the enemy or abandoning a unit is punishable by up to 10 years.

Refusal to participate in hostilities is punishable by two to three years' imprisonment.

The State Duma also adopted a law

to foreigners serving in the armed forces of the Russian Federation.

Those willing to support Russian expansion and fight for a passport will even have a specific place to enlist in Moscow.

Russia seems ready to respond to the Ukrainian advance with an escalation.

Meanwhile,

, plummeting below 2,300 points for the first time since late August.

Some Russian companies like Gazprom, Sberbank fell more than 10%.

The Russians, mostly indifferent to the war these seven months, will listen tonight to a message from Vladimir Putin that could open

that Europe has experienced since the Second World War.

Faced with the Ukrainian counter-offensive, the Russian authorities may carry out a partial mobilization in Russia and introduce martial law.

Changes in the top leadership of the presidential administration and the Ministry of Defense are also on the table, according to different Russian media.

The amendments to the Russian legislation, including the mobilization legislation, were adopted on the same day the decision was announced to immediately hold "referendums on accession to Russia" in the occupied territories.

As was the case after the annexation of Crimea, not a single member of the State Duma spoke out against these amendments.

Russia controls only part of the occupied territories of Ukraine.

Russian troops now hold 93% of the Kherson region, where a Ukrainian counteroffensive is underway.

They have 64% in the Zaporizhia region, also invaded this year.

99% of the territory is occupied in the Lugansk region after advancing this year on their 2014 conquests. Finally, they control 65% of the territory of the Donetsk region, considered the capital of the Donbas area.

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