Vladimir Putin shuts down border crossings as he prepares to call up hundreds of thousands of conscripts to fight

Vladimir Putin has shut down multiple border crossings as he prepares to call up hundreds of thousands of fresh conscripts to fight in Ukraine.

The Kremlin confirmed that traffic through a number of railway checkpoints on its borders with Finland, Estonia, and Latvia will be suspended from today.

Although Moscow did not specify a reason for the suspension, it confirmed the order would restrict the movement of people, vehicles, goods and cargo.

Russia's shared border with Finland will be hit with the brunt of the closures, with traffic through Vyborg, Vartsilya, Lyuttya, Saint Petersburg-Finlandsky, and Svetogorsk ground to a halt.

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The Russian Foreign Ministry has informed Finnish, Estonian and Latvian authorities of the move.

The wave of closures comes as Moscow prepares a wave of military call-ups to top up its dwindling numbers of the frontlines - with Mr Putin at risk of a mass public revolt over the plans.

Sources told Russian media the next mass mobilisation could come after elections to the State Duma - Russia's lower chamber - in September.

The number of men choosing to fight in Ukraine has fallen by a third this spring, compared with this time last year.

In September 2022, some 70,000 Russians fled the country - roughly the size of the entire fighting force in Ukraine.

The mobilisation disproportionately affected the young and educated, with 85 per cent of Russian men under 35, and 80 per cent having some form of higher education.

Gaps in Russia's military are now largely being filled by detainees, with police offering the chance to fight in Ukraine to suspects rather than face jail.

One mobilised Russian soldier said the new recruits were "taken from prison, others from the streets".

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As the country grapples with depleting numbers of servicemen on the front lines, Mr Putin finally admitted the country is facing "problems" in its four-year-long invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian President addressed his nation's faltering war just as Ukraine struck oil refineries in the regions of Krasnodar and Yaroslavl, hundreds of miles from the border.

Veniamin Kondratiev, the Governor of Krasnodar, said one person had been killed in the strikes and another injured.

Mr Putin, delivering a rambling speech in Moscow, acknowledged the struggles the war has inflicted on Russia.

"Yes, we see the problems, we are aware of them and are responding to them, but we will certainly ensure the security of both the country and our citizens, as well as the inviolability of Russia's borders," he told the congress of United Russia, his ruling party.

"We will undoubtedly overcome all the challenges facing us today, including terrorist attacks on our territory and infrastructure facilities."

Despite the rare admission, the humbling moment was not enough to grab the attention of his ally Dmitry Medvedev.

Footage from the speech showed the former Russian President nodding off, with his eyes completely shut.

Earlier, Mr Putin acknowledged Russia was also staring down the barrel of fuel shortages thanks to his "special military operation".

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