Kyiv's parliament votes for martial law in ten regions
A retrospective on the Verkhovna Rada's emergency session after the Kerch Strait confrontation with Russian vessels.
What did Ukraine's parliament decide on 26 November 2018, a day after Russian forces confronted Ukrainian naval vessels in the Kerch Strait? The Verkhovna Rada approved the introduction of martial law in 10 oblasts for a period of 30 days, to take effect on 28 November 2018.
The trigger
The vote followed the incident of 25 November 2018, when, as later described, the Russian Federal Security Service coast guard fired upon and captured three Ukrainian Navy vessels. The ships had been attempting to transit from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov on their way to the port of Mariupol. The Rada's decision was taken after what Ukrainian reports called aggression by Russian border vessels against Ukrainian Navy ships.
From the security council to the chamber
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 Ukrainian vessels. Afterwards, President Petro Poroshenko said he would ask the Verkhovna Rada to support a declaration of martial law. Parliament was set to hold an emergency meeting at 4 p.m. local time on 26 November.
The approval that followed limited the measure to 10 oblasts rather than the whole country, and set a fixed term of 30 days, beginning on 28 November 2018.
