KYIV (UKRAINE) : Ukraine declared a state of emergency and began to mobilize reservists on Wednesday, calling on its citizens to immediately leave Russia because of a growing threat of war.

       Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow is ready for dialogue, but praised the readiness of Russia’s armed forces, which he said have been modernized and sharpened by exercises.

       “Weapons that have no equal in the world are now on combat duty," he said in a televised address Wednesday to mark Russia’s veterans’ day. “The security of our citizens is unconditional for us."

       Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had held off on mobilizing troops and other emergency measures, fearing the panic would do further damage to Ukraine’s battered economy. But in a televised address Tuesday in Kyiv, he said Russian threats to Ukraine’s sovereignty were forcing him to recall contract military personnel to active duty and to mobilize members of the newly created territorial defense brigades for exercises. He said Ukraine wouldn’t carry out a general mobilization of civilians, urging them to continue normal life.

       “We are certain of ourselves, we are certain in our country, we are certain in our victory," he said. “We are here to overcome, not to cry." Mr. Zelensky’s national security adviser, Oleksiy Danilov, said the call-up of reservists would initially involve 36,000 service members with combat experience. The country’s standing military numbers some 200,000 uniformed troops.

       “I hope a huge escalation will not happen. I hope our army will be enough to hold Russia in the eastern part of the country," said Oleksiy Radziyevskyy, a 39-year-old reservist who normally drives an Uber and studies for an agriculture degree, and now is awaiting to be called up to his tank unit. “Of course, my wife is not happy with it, but what can we do? It’s our land, it’s our home."

       Russia has massed some 190,000 troops along Ukraine’s borders. Mr. Putin earlier this week recognized the two Russian-controlled statelets in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions in borders that include major Ukrainian-held cities like Mariupol. The Russian parliament, in a unanimous vote after Mr. Putin’s speech questioning Ukraine’s right to exist as a sovereign nation, allowed him to send Russian troops to the country.

       Russia’s state-run television has followed his speech with suggestions that Russia may soon be carving up what is now Ukraine, lopping off segments that were added to a rump state by Soviet and Tsarist rulers. Only a small part of Ukraine—not including Kyiv—was marked as historically Ukrainian.

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