Ukraine Moves to Impose State of Emergency, Calls on Its Citizens to Leave Russia, Conscripts Reservists
Ukraine has shifted to a war footing, moving to impose a nationwide state of emergency, urging all of its citizens to leave Russia immediately, and introducing conscription for reservists as the crisis deepens.
Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council on Wednesday backed imposing a state of emergency on all of the country’s territory, apart from the conflict-stricken Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where it has been in place for eight years as Ukrainian forces battled pro-Russian separatists.
The state of emergency still needs to be approved by Ukrainian lawmakers in Parliament, which is expected Wednesday, according to Ukraine’s top security chief Oleksiy Danilov, who spoke at a Wednesday briefing.
Danilov said the measures introduced by the state of emergency declaration would include beefing up security at key locations, with stricter curbs in high-risk areas like in eastern Ukraine, along the country’s border with Belarus and Russia, and in Russia-occupied Crimea.
“This can include restrictions on movement of transportation, additional inspections of transportation. This can include inspections of individuals’ documents,” Danilov said, with the state of emergency initially set to last 30 days, with a possible extension.
Separately, Ukraine’s Parliament on Wednesday voted to approve a draft law that allows Ukrainians to carry firearms and act in self-defense.
“The adoption of this law is fully in the interests of the state and society,” the authors of the draft law said in a note, adding that the measure was needed due to “existing threats and dangers for the citizens of Ukraine.”
Ukraine has also called on all of its estimated 3 million citizens living in Russia to leave immediately.
The first wave of reservists has also been called up, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday announcing conscription of reservists aged 18 to 60, though he ruled out a general military mobilization.
Tensions have escalated in the region after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Donetsk and Luhansk independent states and said Russia was moving its troops there, ostensibly as peacekeepers.
Western leaders have dismissed the claim that Russian forces are in Ukraine to help maintain peace, accusing Putin of orchestrating a territorial grab. They warn he’s likely to use a false flag operation as a pretext for a deeper incursion into Ukraine—lay siege to Kyiv, topple the government, and impose a Moscow-friendly regime.
Russia has denied plans for an invasion, instead framing its actions as moves to protect ethnic Russians living in Ukraine, with Putin accusing Ukrainian forces and their proxies of “genocide” in eastern Ukraine, an explosive claim dismissed by Western officials and analysts as propaganda meant to justify an invasion.
Pro-Russian separatists have controlled parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk districts, collectively known as the Donbas, since 2014.
The U.N. estimates around 14,000 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine over the past eight years, including at least 3,400 civilians.
