Putin declares martial law in four annexed regions of Ukraine

Moscow-appointed governor of the region, Vladimir Saldo, told Russian state media on Wednesday, Novosti that the administration of Ukraine’s Kherson region after the application of martial law will be implemented by the administration together with the Russian army.

“Martial law stipulates that authority in the territories must be transferred to the army in accordance with the law. And we are doing all this work together with the army. Now we have already transferred the entire apparatus of the military and civil administration to the left shore. They will work there,” Saldo was quoted by the RIA news agency as saying. It will organize all the functions necessary for life.

Kherson region, located in southern Ukraine, is not under full Russian control. Western countries have condemned the annexation of Russian President Vladimir Putin as a violation of international law and vowed not to recognize it as Russian territory.

Installed by the Russians, Kherson region leaders began a major escalation of relocation of up to 60,000 people on Wednesday, amid warnings about Russia’s ability to resist a Ukrainian counterattack.

According to Saldo, more than 7,000 residents have already left the Kherson region.

“We are taking people out to facilitate the army’s carrying out of their tasks and to protect the civilian population,” Saldo said, adding that evacuation efforts are taking place in several directions.

According to Kirill Strimosov, Deputy Head of the Kherson Regional Administration, with the support of Russia, the application of martial law in the Kherson Territory will make it easier for the army to carry out combat missions.

“The implementation of martial law will simplify some of the army’s tasks,” Strimosov said Wednesday on the channel. “We will no longer play the games we have been playing for nearly seven months. There will be no more conversations with the Nazis.” Single broadcast of Russian state television.

Earlier on Wednesday, Putin signed a decree establishing martial law in the four Ukrainian regions that the Kremlin claims to have annexed, in violation of international law.