Putin declares martial law in occupied Ukrainian regions

Kyiv/Mykolaiv, Ukraine (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin introduced martial law on Wednesday in four Ukrainian regions he says have been annexed by Russia, as some residents of the occupied city of Kherson left on boats after warnings of an imminent attack.

Russian state television broadcast images of people fleeing Kherson, depicting the mass exodus – from the right bank to the left bank of the Dnipro River – as an attempt to clear the city of civilians before it became a combat zone.

Kirill Strimosov, deputy head of the Russia-backed local administration, gave a video appeal after Russian forces in the region retreated 20-30 kilometers (13-20 miles) in the past few weeks. They risk getting stuck on the west bank of the 2,200-kilometre (1,367-mile) Dnipro River that divides Ukraine.

In a move that appeared designed to help Russia consolidate its grip on the Ukrainian regions it partially occupies – including Kherson – Putin told his Security Council that he was implementing martial law there.

Besides the stricter security measures on the ground, it was not clear what the direct impact of this would be.

Kyiv, which does not recognize Moscow’s annexation of the four regions, scoffed at the move.

“The application of ‘martial law’ to the territories occupied by Russia should be considered a mere false legalization of the looting of Ukrainian property,” Mikhailo Podolyak, a Ukrainian presidential adviser, wrote on Twitter.

“This does not change anything for Ukraine: we continue to liberate and dismantle our lands.”

Eight months after its invasion, Ukraine is launching major counterattacks in the east and south to try to capture as much territory as possible before winter after defeating Russian forces in some areas.

The conflict has killed thousands, displaced millions, devastated Ukrainian cities, shook the global economy, and revived Cold War-era geopolitical divisions.

Putin also issued a decree restricting movement in and out of eight regions bordering Ukraine and ordered the creation of a special coordination council headed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to intensify the faltering war effort.

Kherson is the largest population center that Moscow has captured and controlled since it began its “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24.

Andrei Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president’s office, accused Russia of setting up a propaganda program there.

“The Russians are trying to frighten the Kherson people with fake news releases about our army’s bombing of the city, as well as arranging a propaganda show with the evacuation,” Yermak wrote in the Telegram messaging app.

‘aggressive’

Ukrainian cities have also been bombed in recent days with drones and missiles, and Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said the capital’s air defenses were operating again on Wednesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said that a third of his country’s power plants were hit by Russian strikes, on Wednesday discussed security at energy supply facilities with senior officials.

“We are working to create mobile power points for critical infrastructure of cities, towns and villages,” Zelensky wrote in the Telegram messaging app.

“We are preparing for different scenarios of possible consequences. Ukraine will defend itself. No matter what the enemy plans and does.”

In Kherson, Strimosov said the city and especially the right bank could be bombarded by Ukrainian forces, adding that residents who left would be given housing within Russia.

“I am asking you to take my words seriously and interpret them as a call to evacuate as quickly as possible,” he said.

“We are not planning to hand over the city and we will stay until the last minute,” he added.

Russia-appointed head of the Kherson region, Strimosov, said 50,000-60,000 people would be evacuated in the next six days. The city of Kherson before the war had a population of about 280,000 people, but many have since fled.

“The Ukrainian side is mobilizing its forces to launch a large-scale attack,” official Vladimir Saldo told state television. Where the army operates, there is no place for civilians.”

Saldo, who said Russia had the resources to detain Kherson and even counterattack if necessary, said he had prevented civilians from entering the area for seven days.

He said staff in the Russian-backed Kherson administration had been moved to the left bank of the Dnipro River.

The evacuation calls followed a grim assessment of Russia’s prospects in the region from General Sergei Sorovikin, the new commander of Russian forces in Ukraine.

“The situation in the ‘special military operation’ area can be described as tense,” Surovkin told Rossiya 24 news channel. “The situation in this (Kherson) region is difficult. The enemy is deliberately bombing infrastructure and residential buildings,” he added.

Reporting by Reuters offices. Written by Andrew Osborne; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne

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