Ukraine will on Wednesday, pending parliamentary approval, impose a nationwide state of emergency that will include additional security measures and inspections amid fears that Russia is preparing for a deeper invasion of the country.
“On all territories of our country with the exception of Donetsk and Luhansk regions [which are designated as a war zone], there will be imposed a state of emergency,” said Oleksiy Danilov, Ukraine’s national security chief, during a briefing after Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council approved the decision. The state of emergency, which would last an initial 30 days, is expected to be approved by a parliamentary vote today.
“In Donetsk and Luhansk regions there is a separate regime . . . which has unfortunately been in place since 2014” when Russia annexed the country’s Crimean peninsula and fomented a proxy separatist war in eastern regions, Danilov added.
Short of martial law, which would put the military led by President Volodymyr Zelensky in charge of all decisions, a state of emergency allows measures to be implemented by special commissions composed of central government and regional authorities.
Danilov said such measures would include “strengthening security of public places and locations that are critical for the public”.
“This can include restrictions on movement of transportation, additional inspections of transportation. This can include inspections of individuals’ documents,” said Danilov.
Measures will be applied, according to Danilov, in a calibrated way, with stricter restrictions and inspections implemented in the areas bordering Russia and Belarus, as well as in occupied Crimea and breakaway eastern regions.
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