Martial law in Ukraine


Martial law in Ukraine was a period of martial law introduced by presidential decree of November 26, 2018 in 10 regions of Ukraine from 14:00 local time for 30 days on with the aim of strengthening the defense of Ukraine against the background of increasing tension with Russia. This happened after the incident in the Kerch Strait. Martial law was ended after 30 days.
Initially President Poroshenko signed a decree for the martial law within the whole Ukraine for 60 days, however after 5 hours of deliberations, a less restrictive version was signed into the law by an emergency session of Verkhovna Rada.
During the martial law Ukraine banned all Russian men between 16 and 60 from entering the country for the period of the martial law with exceptions for humanitarian purposes. Ukraine claimed this was a security measure to prevent Russia from forming units of “private” armies on Ukrainian soil. According to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine 1,650 Russian citizens were refused entry into Ukraine from November 26 to December 26, 2018. On 27 December 2018 the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine announced that it had extended "the restrictive measures of the State Border Guard Service regarding the entry of Russian men into Ukraine.”

Legislation

In Ukraine, the legal basis for the introduction of martial law is the Constitution of Ukraine, the Law of Ukraine "On the legal status of martial law" and presidential decree about the introduction of martial law.
The previous law "On the legal status of martial law" was adopted in 2000 and signed by President Leonid Kuchma. It was changed several times: in 2003, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014.
In 2015, Petro Poroshenko introduced the bill No. 2541 to parliament. It was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on May 12 and returned with the signature of the President of Ukraine on June 8. In order to implement the new law, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved a typical plan for the introduction and provision of measures for the legal regime of martial law in Ukraine or in its separate areas. In response to prolonged military intervention, central units of the executive branch of Ukraine created relevant divisions. In the Ministry of Social Policy operates Divilion for social adaptation of ATO participants and retired servicemen, in the Ministry of Health – Division of coordination and providing medical care during anti-terrorist operations, emergency and martial law.
On May 28, 2015 in the program "Year of Poroshenko," the President said that a decree on the introduction of a martial law in Ukraine would be signed if a truce was violated and an offensive would take place on the position of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Martial law areas

The affected territories are located along the Russia-Ukraine border, along the part of the Moldova–Ukraine border which runs along the unrecognised state of Transnistria, and at the coasts of the Black and Azov Seas. The Ukrainian internal waters of the Azov–Kerch aquatory are also subject to the martial law.
; along the border with the unrecognised state of Transnistria:
; along the coast of the Black and Azov Seas:
; along the Russia-Ukraine border:
Despite public support, Poroshenko's decision was criticized because it occurred during the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election, which might be affected by the restrictions to the Constitution by the martial law.
On the other hand, it has been criticized as being too late, because before the Kerch Strait incident several significantly more serious military incidents did occur since the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine. Critics associate the timing with Poroshenko's pre-election political ambitions, since his ratings for the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election fell very low. Concern was also expressed that the martial law would affect international aid payments.