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Scoop of the day: Ukraine introduces state of emergency

Scoop of the day: Ukraine introduces state of emergency

MPs approve state of emergency

Parliament has approved the president's decree introducing the state of emergency on the entire territory of Ukraine, except for Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which have been subject to a special legal framework since 2014. The state of emergency is effective as of midnight 24 February.

National Security and Defence Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said Russia would not be able to seize Ukraine without destabilizing the domestic situation, which the state of emergency seeks to prevent.

The restrictions are not expected to significantly affect the life of Ukrainians but it will be up to each region to decide on their scale.

Separatists request Russian military help

The heads of the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics, Denys Pushylin and Leonid Pasichnyk, have asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for help in "repelling aggression by the Ukrainian Armed Forces", Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov has said.

Ukraine intelligence warns of possible provocation in Crimea

The Russia-controlled authorities evacuated a whole shift of around 50 employees of the Titan chemical plant located in northern Crimea tonight, which may indicate that a terrorist act or chemical sabotage is being prepared at the facility, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry's Main Directorate of Intelligence has said.

Donbas

One Ukrainian serviceman was killed, one wounded and two sustained combat injuries amid 75 shelling attacks in Donbas, the Joint Forces Operation HQ said in its evening update.

According to intelligence, the separatist authorities in Donbas are mobilising eligible men into military service by force, which prompts many to go into hiding to avoid being used as cannon fodder.

Separatists hit a kindergarten in Zelenopillya near Bakhmut, the National Police have said. Children and their teachers had to take cover in the basement. A civilian woman was wounded in the nearby village of Mykolayivka.

Call-up

Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Gen Valeriy Zaluzhnyy has thanked operational reservists for their "massive" response to the call-up announcement.

"These long queues across the country form a torrent of colossal strength which will sweep away the horde once it crosses our borders," he said.

DDoS attack

A number of government websites, including those of the Foreign Ministry, parliament and the Cabinet of Ministers, have been temporarily affected by a DDoS attack which started at 4 p.m. Kyiv time, Digital Transformation Minister Mykhaylo Fedorov has said.

International support

Polish and Lithuanian Presidents Andrzej Duda and Gitanas Nauseda have arrived in Kyiv to express solidarity with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The heads of state signed a joint declaration which condemns Russia's decision to recognise the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions as "independent" and supports granting Ukraine candidate status for EU membership.

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