On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin imposed martial law in four unlawfully acquired areas of Ukraine: Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. During a meeting of the national security council, Vladimir Putin stated, “I signed a decree to institute martial law in these four areas of the Russian Federation.” The Kremlin then released a decree announcing the implementation of martial law in the regions beginning early on Thursday.
With the announcement of martial law, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that more emergency powers will be given to the heads of all regions of Russia.
Vladimir Putin added, without elaborating on the directive, “In the current situation, I feel it essential to extend extra authority to chiefs of all Russian districts.” Eight regions that border Ukraine are subject to travel restrictions under the edict. These include the Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as the southern areas of Krasnodar, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kursk, and Rostov.
President Vladimir Putin imposed martial law in four Moscow-occupied Ukraine territories that Russia had claimed as its own last month. Vladimir Putin also instructed the government to set up a special coordinating council to boost Russia’s efforts in Ukraine. “We are working on solving very complex, large-scale tasks to ensure a reliable future for Russia, the future of our people,” Vladimir Putin said. The move marked a new escalation by the Russian President after facing a series of major defeats in Ukraine since the start of September.
Vladimir Putin justified the action by claiming that the steps he was directing would improve the stability of the economy, industry, and output.
In Kherson, one of the four seized regions, authorities appointed by Russia earlier in the day issued orders ordering residents to leave certain locations as quickly as possible in preparation for an impending Ukrainian invasion. Kyiv referred to this as a “effort to generate fear.”
