Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the introduction of martial law in the four Ukrainian territories Moscow said it annexed in September: Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya.
Putin announced the measure during a televised meeting of his Security Council.
The Kremlin (Russian presidency) then issued a decree announcing the entry into force of martial law in the four territories from midnight on Thursday.
In the decree, Putin also gives additional emergency powers to the leaders of all regions of Russia.
The Russian president has not yet indicated what measures could be taken under martial law.
The decree gives law enforcement agencies three days to submit specific proposals and orders the creation of territorial forces in the four annexed regions.
“We are working to solve very difficult large-scale tasks to ensure the security of Russia and a secure future, to protect our people,” Putin said in comments on state television.
“Those on the front lines or receiving military instruction at firing ranges and training centers should feel the support of our great country,” he stressed.
The upper house of the Russian parliament quickly approves Putin’s decision later today.
The bill specifies that it could include travel restrictions and public gatherings, stricter censorship and broader powers for security forces to enforce the law.
Putin also declined to comment on the additional powers to be given to heads of Russian regions under his decree.
“In the current situation, I consider it necessary to give additional powers to the heads of all Russian regions,” he said.
The Russian president also ordered the creation of a coordination committee to increase interaction between the various government agencies to deal with the fighting in Ukraine, which he continues to designate as a “special military operation”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Putin’s order did not provide for the closure of Russia’s borders, state news agency RIA-Novosti reported.
Putin’s decision comes just hours after Russian occupation authorities in the Kherson region announced today that, following the advance of Ukrainian troops, the withdrawal of civilians from the city has already begun, saying they are planning more than 50,000. to transfer people.
In response, Ukrainian authorities have today accused Russia of “trying to frighten the residents of Kherson” by organizing an evacuation of residents from this important city in southern Ukraine, located in the region of the same name and annexed by the government at the end of September. Moscow.
“The Russians are trying to scare the people of Kherson with false reports of a bombing of the city by our army,” the head of the Ukrainian presidency, Andriï Yermak, accused on the social network Telegram.
For the chief of staff to the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, the removal of the population from Kherson is a “propaganda spectacle” […] That does not work”.
“The organized transfer of residents to the other side of the [rio] Dnieper started in Kherson,” the head of the local occupation administration, Vladimir Saldo, also told the social network Telegram.
“The plan is to evacuate 50,000 to 60,000 people to the left bank of the Dnieper,” the river bordering the city of Kherson, he said.
The withdrawal, averaging 10,000 people a day, is expected to last six days, the official added, quoted by Russian news agencies.
According to the Ria-Novosti agency, the pro-Russian administrator of the region, Yevgeny Melnikov, has in turn clarified that the people removed from the zone should be taken to Russia.
Russia has decided to withdraw the population from Kherson, where Moscow’s troops are in a particularly “tense” situation due to the Kiev counter-offensive.
Russian General Sergey Surovikin, currently in charge of operations in Ukraine, admitted that the situation remains “extremely difficult” for Russian forces in the southern region and in the city of Kherson, which has been the target of Ukrainian attacks targeting “social infrastructure, economic and industrial”.
Kherson is one of the Ukrainian regions — along with Donetsk, Lugansk and Zaporijia — that Russia has declared annexed after Moscow-organized referendums and contested by Ukraine and the international community.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 of this year, unleashing a war that plunged Europe into what is considered the worst security crisis since World War II (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the generality of the international community, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and impose it on Russia. political and economic sanctions.
Source: DN
