Ukraine introduces martial law as it warns of possible Russian invasion
Ukraine has imposed martial law on parts of the country vulnerable to an attack by Russia following the naval clash between the two countries on Sunday.
Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko said there was an “extremely serious” threat of a Russian land invasion after Russia injured six Ukrainian sailors at the weekend and seized three of its ships.
Martial law has been introduced for 30 days in parts of the country judged most vulnerable to an invasion.
US 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 United States condemns this aggressive Russian action. We call on Russia to return to Ukraine its vessels and detained crew members, and to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Pompeo said in a statement.
Sunday’s clash marked one of the first direct confrontations between the two countries, in a conflict that has been marked by Russia’s heavy use of proxies, including two Moscow-backed separatist movements in Ukraine’s far east. Russian has denied any direct military involvement.
Poroshenko said: “Russia has been waging a hybrid war against our country for a fifth year. But with an attack on Ukrainian military boats it moved to a new stage of aggression.”
Russia’s foreign ministry blamed Kiev for the crisis.
“It’s obvious that this painstakingly thought-through and planned provocation was aimed at igniting another source of tension in the region in order to create a pretext to ramp up sanctions against Russia,” it said in a statement.
The incident took place in the Kerch Strait between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula. Russia has closed off the waterway, a vital link between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.