Ukrainian parliament approves martial law

Ukrainian parliament approves martial law

KIEV. In response to the confrontation with Russia in the Black Sea, the Ukrainian Parliament approved the imposition of martial law.

The parliamentarians followed President Petro Poroshenko's petition on Monday night in Kiev. Martial law must apply for 30 days.

276 deputies voted for the bill. At least 226 favorable votes were required to be accepted. Martial law is limited to the regions of Ukraine bordering Russia and the Black Sea coast.

The next presidential election in Ukraine was decided by the deputies on March 31, 2019.

President Poroshenko was present in the tumultuous debate in parliament. Previously, he had campaigned in a televised speech in favor of the approval of martial law. The imposition was necessary so that Ukraine could immediately strengthen the defense in order to react quickly in case of invasion, "he said.

The president refrained from his initial plan to impose martial law for 60 days. It was aimed at only a 30-day validity period so that martial law did not overlap with the beginning of the election campaign preceding the March presidential election, Poroshenko said in the TV speech.

Ukraine has accused Russia of bombing and looting three of its warships in the Kerch Strait, a strait of strategic importance between Crimea and Russia on Sunday. Russia accuses Ukraine of intensifying the conflict.

The United States and Russia have made serious allegations to the United Nations Security Council. US Ambbadador to the UN Nikki Haley on Monday accused Russia of "illegal actions" during the attack on Ukrainian navy ships in the Kerch Strait.

Deputy Russian Ambbadador Dmitry Polyansky, for his part, accused Ukraine of the incident, accusing the West of "anti-Russian behavior" and "hating" Russia.

Haley called on Russia to "immediately end its illegal behavior in the name of peace and international security and to respect the rights of all states in the maritime sector". She accused Russia of unlawful interference with Ukrainian shipping in the Kerch Strait. Russia has failed in the Security Council to try to launch a debate on "violation of Russian borders" by Ukraine. In the panel of 15 countries, the push was only support for China, Bolivia and Kazakhstan. Vice-Ambbadador Polyansky spoke at the session on the "myth of Russian aggression".

Ukraine's ambbadador to the United Nations, Volodimir Yelchenko, urged New York to strengthen the sanctions imposed on Russia after the occupation of Crimea. However, the US ambbadador, Haley, did not adhere to this request at the Security Council meeting.

The Russian secret service, the FSB, on Monday defended Russian action in the Sea of ​​Azov against the confiscated Ukrainian warships. These would have first directed their weapons on Russian ships. The following warning shots were ignored, the FSB said.

The staff of the Ukrainian army presented Monday, according to the radio messages "Spiegel Online" of the Russian coastguard, that he would have intercepted the day before. One of the interlocutors said: "It is necessary to prepare" and underlines that with a flood of violent Russian curses.

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