Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced a decree to impose martial law in 4 regions of Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, Reuters reports.
Max Seddon, the Moscow-based editor of the Financial Times, says Putin presented it as a “technicality” and that de facto martial law already existed in these regions.
But Seddon says it’s a clear response to the Russian military’s recent failures on the front lines in the face of Kyiv’s offensive.
Putin says he is imposing martial law in the four partially occupied regions of Ukraine that he annexed last month. It is portrayed as a technique – he said it already exists de facto – but is a clear response to recent military setbacks during Ukraine’s counteroffensive. pic.twitter.com/zTOanR1N1C
— max seddon (@maxseddon) October 19, 2022
Vladimir Putin’s statement came after Russian television reported earlier on Wednesday that authorities had begun evacuating civilians from the Moscow-occupied territories of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.
Volodymyr Saldo, head of the Russian-appointed regional occupation administration in Kherson, said on Wednesday that authorities plan to evacuate around 50,000 to 60,000 people over the next six days amid escalating pressure from the Ukrainian offensive in the region.
Since last Thursday, Saldo has asked Moscow to organize the evacuation of civilians from the region it controls, saying they are not safe because of Ukrainian strikes.
“Take your children and leave,” he urged residents in a statement posted on social media.
Russia began evacuation in Kherson
General Serhii Surovikin, the supreme commander of the Russian invasion forces, announced on Tuesday evening that Russia would begin evacuating civilians from this region of southern Ukraine.
“The situation in the area of the special military operation can be characterized as tense. The enemy does not stop trying to attack the positions of the Russian troops,” General Serhiy Surovikin, who has been in charge of operations in Ukraine for the past ten days, said on the air of the Russian state television “Rossiya 24”.
On Wednesday morning, Kyrylo Stremousov, the most famous official appointed by the Russian occupation forces in Kherson, warned that even the city of Kherson, the capital of the region, could become the target of an attack by the Ukrainian army at any moment.
In recent weeks, Russian forces in Kherson have been pushed back 20-30 km and risk being pinned down on the right or west bank of the Dnieper. Ukrainian forces “will start an offensive on the city of Kherson in the near future,” Stremousov also said.
Vladimir Putin talks about strengthening the Russian economy
The head of the Kremlin announced the introduction of martial law at a televised meeting of the country’s Security Council.
He also said he had instructed the government to create a special coordination council under Prime Minister Mykhailo Mishustin to work with Russian governors to strengthen Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine.
Putin said the measures he ordered would boost the stability of Russia’s economy, industry and manufacturing to better support the “special military operation”.
“We are working on solving very complex and large-scale tasks to ensure a reliable future for Russia, the future of our people,” he said on Wednesday.
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Source: Hot News RU
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