Poroshenko signs executive order on declaring martial law in Ukraine

Published Nov. 26, 2018. Updated Nov. 26 at 3:24 pm

This handout picture taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential press service shows President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko (C) leading a session of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine in Kyiv early on Nov. 26, 2018, following an incident in the Black Sea off Moscow-annexed Crimea. Russia said on Nov. 25 that it has seized three Ukrainian naval ships by force in a strait near Moscow-annexed Crimea, sparking alarm among Kyiv's Western allies and raising fears of military escalation. Ukraine's navy had accused Russia of the unprecedented incident including firing on its vessels in the Kerch Strait, a narrow waterway that gives access to the Sea of Azov that is used by Ukraine and Russia.

Photo by AFP

President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine has issued an executive order to enact a decision of November 26, 2018 by the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) “On Extraordinary Measures to Secure the State Sovereignty and Independence of Ukraine and Declaring Martial Law in Ukraine.”

A respective decree by the president, No №390/2018 of November 26, 2018, has been published on the website of the Ukrainian head of state.

The above-mentioned decision by the NSDC is published without Clause 12, which has been classified as a state secret.

The decree comes into effect on the day of its publication. The NSDC’s chairman Oleksandr Turchynov has been named responsible for the implementation of the NSDC’s decision.