Very high tension degenerated into a naval battle, between Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea, off the Crimea. Russia denounced a trespassing of Ukrainian ships in the Black Sea. President Poroshenko called a government emergency meeting.
It all started when the Russian coast guard claimed that three Ukrainian ships had crossed Russian waters without authorization. Instead, Kiev accused the Moscow units of having deliberately rammed its own boat, a tugboat, which towed two Ukrainian military vehicles to Mariupol, in the Sea of Azov.
Today, Ukraine’s parliament approved 30 days of martial law in response to Russia’s seizure of three ships of the Ukrainian Navy in the Kerch Strait, between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. Martial law, which gives extraordinary powers to the army even in the management of civil matters, will be in force only in the regions bordering Russia, but among other things could allow the government to restrict the freedom of demonstration and press.
President Petro Poroshenko said on Monday that martial law will help “strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities amid increasing aggression and according to international law a cold act of aggression by the Russian Federation”. He added that Ukraine intends “to keep adhering to all international obligations”.
Maria Elena Argano
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Il Post Website: https://www.ilpost.it/2018/11/27/ucraina-legge-marziale/?fbclid=IwAR2PGGsvSPiWtd-0r7PXKWrYKJ8Xc3qzpJxJ-nL0NRfkLKion6NCXPXTR2U
