JAKARTA - The Ukrainian parliament has approved the declaration of a state of emergency across the country, except for the two eastern regions which have been in place since 2014.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy proposed imposing a national state of emergency on Wednesday morning, as the country braces for a possible large-scale military attack from Russia.
The state of emergency went into effect at midnight local time. The state of emergency will last for 30 days and can be extended for another 30 days.
The declaration means that Ukraine can impose restrictions on the freedom of movement of conscripted military reserves, restrictions on the distribution of information and media, as well as introduce inspection of personal documents.
It also gives authorities the right to impose curfews and prohibit mass gatherings and strikes.
Separately, shootings have increased in the east, where Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognized the two separatist territories as independent and ordered the deployment of what he calls peacekeepers and the West says is the start of an invasion.
A convoy of military equipment, including nine tanks, was moving towards eastern Ukraine's Donetsk from the direction of the Russian border, an eyewitness reported.
However, there is still no clear indication of the President whether Putin will launch a mass attack on Ukraine with the tens of thousands of troops he has amassed near the border.
As many as 80 percent of the troops assembled are in a position to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a senior US defense official said.
Meanwhile, the leaders of the two breakaway regions have sent "requests to President Putin for assistance to repel aggression from the Ukrainian armed forces," Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Wednesday.
"I ask for help to repel the military aggression of the Ukrainian regime against the people of the Donetsk People's Republic," said Denis Pushilin, who heads the Donetsk region which Moscow recognizes as independent.
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Asked about the move, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said: "As we've said from the start, there will be a series of false flag operations that we look forward to, and plan to see.
"This is an example. It shows that they feel under threat. By whom? Ukrainians who are threatened with attack by Russia?"
For information, Russia has consistently denied the assessment of any plans to invade Ukraine.
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