Warmonger Vladimir Putin is facing a massive backlash in Russia - with firebomb attacks on enlistment centres as hundreds of thousands flee to avoid being sent to Ukraine.
Western officials believe Russians are finally coming around to the lies they have been told since the president launched his illegal invasion in February.
Sources said today that there were 17 known fires at mobilisation centres - including one case in Ryazan where a protester set fire to himself - in just four days last week.
There has been a rise in "direct action" since Putin announced 300,000 extra troops would be drafted in to bolster his failing war effort, with brave protesters risking arrest across the country to demonstrate.
Since Putin's escalation an estimated 250,000 people are believed to have crossed Russian borders to avoid being forced to fight in Ukraine - bringing the total number to flee Russia since February to around 400,000.
The latest mobilisation has left the public "shocked and aghast" after months of being told Ukrainian resistance was failing, sources said.
Companies have reported being handed lists of workers who will be forced to fight, creating large gaps across the Russian economy.
Thousands are going to ground to make themselves "untraceable" to authorities.
Western officials say they are optimistic that the Russian public is waking up to the fact that their country has been "humbled" by the Ukrainian resistance - although the consequences for Putin will be played out over "months and years".
It has been harder for state media to mask the lack of international support, and the cost of living is falling across the country as sanctions bite.
Meanwhile sham referenda in Russian-occupied areas have been called in "panic" in a desperate attempt to convince the world that citizens back annexation, officials said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky responded on Telegram: “This farce in the occupied territory cannot even be called an imitation of referendums.
“We will act to protect our people: both in the Kherson region, in the Zaporizhzhia region, in the Donbas, in the currently occupied areas of the Kharkiv region, and in the Crimea.”
Last week Putin announced that 300,000 reservists with military experience will be moblised, stating: “We are talking about partial mobilisation, that is, only citizens who are currently in the reserve will be subject to conscription, and above all, those who served in the armed forces have a certain military specialty and relevant experience."
Today Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told the Labour Party conference that the UK "must continue to lead the global fight against tyranny and oppression", .
Ms Tsikhanouskaya ran against authoritarian leader, and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, in the August 2020 election and was pressured to leave the country shortly after.
Speaking from the main stage at the conference, Ms Tsikhanouskaya praised the UK's role in supporting Ukraine, saying it has "become an example and inspiration to many others".
She said: "The UK must continue to lead the global fight against tyranny and oppression. People all over the world look to you for your strength. We are together on the front line in the fight for democracy."
