This morning, Martial Law went into effect in ten out of Ukraine’s 24 regions. The move comes several days after a fierce debate in the Ukrainian parliament concluded with an affirmative vote on the measure. The measure will cover nearly half the country and includes every Ukrainian region which borders Russia, occupied Ukrainian territory like Donetsk, and the Moldovan breakaway region of Transnistria. This morning in a bizarre and lurid sign of the escalation between Russia and Ukraine that prompted the martial law order, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared: “Kiev is actively stirring up anti-Russian sentiment. That’s all they have. And it works. If they want to eat babies for breakfast tomorrow, they’ll probably give them babies. They’ll say they just want to eat! But that’s very short-sighted.”
The martial law vote took place in the wake of an incident on November 25, when a large Russian coast guard cutter opened fire on a squadron of three much smaller Ukrainian ships as they attempted to traverse the Kerch Strait. One of the Ukrainian ships was rammed by a naval Russian vessel according to a video released by the Ukrainian government. The three vessels were then seized along with the two dozen Ukrainian sailors detained and with several operated on for wounds suffered from flying glass. The next day during an emergency session, the Ukrainian parliament passed the motion authorizing the imposition of Martial Law in the ten regions for a period of thirty days as a response to the attack. Continue reading "Ukraine Declares Martial Law and Putin Claims that Kyiv Could Get Away with 'Eating Babies' " at... |