Mr. Putin announced this measure during a meeting of his Security Council broadcast on television. The Kremlin then issued a decree confirming the entry into force of martial law in these territories from Thursday 00:00 local time.
These territories “had established martial law before their attachment to the Russian Federation, but it is necessary to formalize this regime by following Russian legislation”, declared Vladimir Putin. He justified this measure by saying that kyiv refused to negotiate with Moscow and continued according to him to “bombard” the civilian population in these regions.
“The neo-Nazis (Ukrainians) openly use terrorist methods (…) They send groups of saboteurs to our territory,” he added, denouncing in particular the attack on the Crimean bridge and ” nuclear infrastructures”, without specifying which ones. According to the decree, the Russian government must within three days propose concrete measures to be applied in these territories.
In summary, martial law implies an exceptional legal system. The army takes control of the maintenance of order, with or without the collaboration of the local police, and the fundamental freedoms of the citizens are put on hold for the time during which this measure is in force.
Russian legislation also provides for a series of measures in the event of the establishment of martial law: reinforcement of security measures, curfew, ban on public gatherings, evacuation of strategic companies, ban on leaving the territories concerned, internment of the population , establishment of military censorship in telecommunications, etc.
The decree also establishes a reinforced security regime, described as a “medium-level reaction regime”, in the Crimean peninsula annexed in 2014, as well as in the Russian regions of Krasnodar, Rostov, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh and Kursk, located close to Ukraine.
In the central federal district, where the capital Moscow is located, a reinforced alert regime is also established, according to this decree.
About 5 million inhabitants” of the annexed territories are in Russia
“About 5 million people” of Ukrainian territories annexed by Moscow — Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia — are currently in Russia, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said on Wednesday. “About 5 million inhabitants of Donbass and southeastern regions of Ukraine have found refuge in Russia,” he said after a meeting of the Security Council, quoted by the agencies. Russian press.