From rare, violent protests to long lines at the border — and even a shooting at a draft office in Siberia — Russia remains gripped by anger over its first military mobilization since the Second World War.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the draft of hundreds of thousands of men last Wednesday, following significant military defeats in Ukraine's northeast. Simultaneously, Putin renewed threats of nuclear retaliation. And soon after, the Kremlin orchestrated referendums over independence in Eastern Ukraine which Western leaders have denounced as a sham.

Today, the Guardian's Moscow correspondent Andrew Roth untangles why Putin is betting on this even more aggressive strategy in Ukraine, and what it could mean for his grip on the home front.