If Russia does not decide to attack Ukraine, martial law will be abolished after 26 December, president Petro Poroshenko said at a press conference in Kyiv on December, 16.
“Unless the beginning of a large-scale aggression, invasion by the Russian troops of the territory of Ukraine outside the touch line and the administrative border with the occupied Crimea takes place, martial law will not be extended. And preparations for the presidential elections of March 31, 2019 will begin according to the resolution voted in the Verkhovna Rada,” Petro Poroshenko added.
Petro Poroshenko reminded that after voting for the Law on Martial Law, information was announced on the increase in the number of Russian armed forces near our borders.
“This is a tenth of the information I have about the deployment of Russian troops. How do you comment on 300 tanks on the base 18 kilometers from our border, which were transported there in a month with full ammunition? And how do we react to this? With opinion surveys? And how do you comment on 80 thousand servicemen that appeared at our border? What about a sharp increase in the amount of artillery? And a sharp increase in military presence in the waters of the Sea of Azov? What about the actual occupation of the Kerch Strait, which is continued, and the partial occupation of the Azov Sea?” he wondered when giving the reasons for introducing martial law.
According to the Ukrainian leader, the military needed 60, not 30, days to deploy their units in the appropriate directions. However, after studying the situation, the decision was made not about the deployment, but about the reduction of the period of adjustment and redeployment of units, which made it possible to shorten the time period, while maintaining the quality of preparation for the rebuff.
belsat.eu, following president.gov.ua
