Kyiv's parliament votes for martial law in 10 regions
A look back at the emergency Verkhovna Rada session that followed the Kerch Strait incident.
What did it take for Ukraine's parliament to approve martial law? On 26 November 2018, the Verkhovna Rada met in an emergency session and approved the introduction of martial law in 10 oblasts of Ukraine for a period of 30 days, to begin on 28 November 2018.
The vote came a day after the Kerch Strait incident. According to later background accounts, on 25 November 2018 the Russian Federal Security Service coast guard fired upon and captured three Ukrainian Navy vessels. The ships had tried to transit from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov through the strait on their way to the port of Mariupol.
From the security council to parliament
The sequence was quick. On 25 November 2018, an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine was convened in response to the Russian blockade of the Kerch Strait and the seizure of the vessels. Afterwards, President Petro Poroshenko said he would ask the Verkhovna Rada to support a declaration of martial law. The parliament was set to hold its emergency meeting at 4 p.m. local time on 26 November.
That meeting ended with the approval. As reported at the time, the Rada acted after what was described as aggression by Russian border ships in the Kerch Strait against vessels of the Ukrainian Navy. The measure applied to 10 oblasts rather than to the whole country, and it was limited to 30 days.
What the day showed
The 26 November 2018 session turned a military confrontation at sea into a decision of state. Within roughly a day of the incident, the security council had met, the president had made his request, and parliament had voted. The background accounts describe the incident as the first time Russian forces had openly engaged Ukrainian forces during the Russo-Ukrainian War, which is the setting in which the Rada took up the question.
