Ukraine imposes martial law
Ukraine moved to impose martial law yesterday after Russia fired on and captured three Ukrainian vessels in the Kerch Strait off Crimea.
Petro Poroshenko, the Ukraine president, asked the country’s parliament to grant him emergency wartime powers, including the ability to requisition private property and suspend elections for 30 days beginning tomorrow.
He had earlier asked days.
In a televised address to the nation, he said the move was necessary to defend Ukraine from a possible Russian ground invasion and promised that a presidential election scheduled for March would go ahead as planned.
‘‘I fulfilled my constitutional duty and a few hours ago, by my decree, I imposed martial law throughout Ukraine from 9am on November 28,’’ Poroshenko said.
The move is controversial because martial law has never been imposed before, even during the height of the war in eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Three former presidents of the country issued a statement opposing the move yesterday.
Russia, meanwhile, defied calls from Western countries to for 60 release the Ukrainian vessels and 24 crew members seized in the Sea of Azov on Monday. The Nikol and the Berdyansk, two modern gunboats, and the Yana Kapu, a tug boat, were rammed, fired on and ultimately boarded by Russian special forces after they attempted to sail through the Strait of Kerch.
The vessels were en route from Odessa to Mariupol, a Ukrainian industrial and military port on the Azov Sea.
Russia temporarily blocked the passage with a tanker under the Kerch Bridge, which links Russia and Crimea, to prevent their passage.
Russia also scrambled fighter jets and helicopters.
The Kremlin said the Ukrainian vessels had not informed the border control of their plans and that coastguards opened fire after warning to stop ‘‘dangerous’’ manoeuvring in closed waters around Crimea.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. The FSB, Russia’s internal security service, said a criminal case had been opened.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing by the crew members and described Moscow’s actions as military aggression.
Tensions in the Sea of Azov have been mounting since Russia completed the bridge between its mainland and Crimea earlier this year. Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, said the incident began when the Ukrainian ships illegally entered Russian waters and called it ‘‘a dangerous provocation’’ organised by Kiev.
Theresa May, the British Prime Minister, said the incident was ‘‘further evidence of Russia’s destabilising behaviour in the region and its ongoing violation of Ukrainian territorial integrity’’. Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, spoke with Poroshenko by telephone. Her office said the chancellor emphasised the need for deescalation and dialogue and said she would work to help bring about both.
At an emergency mission of the United Nations Security Council, Nikki Hayley, the US ambassador to the UN, called Russia’s behaviour ‘‘arrogant’’ and a ‘‘violation’’ of international law, adding: ‘‘The United States will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine against Russian aggression.’’
In Kiev, scores of protesters gathered outside the Russian embassy, setting tyres on fire and throwing smoke grenades. A crowd of nationalist protesters also gathered outside the Russian consulate in Kharkiv.