Ukraine’s president on Monday imposed martial law after Russia fired on and captured three Ukrainian vessels in the Kerch Strait near Crimea.
Poroshenko said martial law was necessary to bolster Ukraine’s defenses after Russia seized three Ukrainian naval ships and took their crew prisoner at the weekend.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he did not like what was happening between Russia and Ukraine and was working with European leaders on the situation.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Russia’s seizure of the Ukrainian vessels “a dangerous escalation and a violation of international law” and called for restraint from both countries.
The Telegraph reports that the country’s parliament approved his request to grant him emergency war time powers in the areas considered most vulnerable to invasion, including the ability to requisition private property and suspend elections for 30 days beginning on Wednesday. He had earlier asked for 60 days across the whole of Ukraine.
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.
The New York Times reported that Western countries rose to Ukraine’s defence on Nov. 26, using an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council to condemn Russia for opening fire on Ukrainian naval vessels a day earlier, impounding them and wounding several sailors.
The Kyiv Post reported that Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst believes that the attack by Russian forces against Ukrainian Navy vessels on Nov. 25 was intended to provoke Kyiv into a strong military response that would give Moscow a pretext for a larger attack on Ukraine.
