The Russian Federation has started a new stage of terror on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry says in its statement commenting on Russian President Putin’s announcement of martial law in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied territories.
“The announcement of the so-called “martial law” by the Russian Federation aims to suppress the resistance of the residents of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, who oppose the Russian occupation. Even massive Russian propaganda is unable to disguise the failure of Russia’s efforts to annex Ukrainian territories,” the MFA statement reads.
The Ministry calls Putin’s decree null and void, bearing no legal consequences for Ukraine and its citizens.
“Instead, such a step is just another example of the crimes of the Russian leadership against the Ukrainian state and Ukrainians,” MFA says.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called on Ukraine’s international partners to strongly condemn “the intention of the Russian occupation administrations under the guise of the so-called ‘martial law’ to deprive residents of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine of even basic human rights, as well as to condemn their illegal plans to legalize looting, forced deportations and mobilization.”