Ukraine Leader Calls for Martial Law Amid Tense Standoff With Russia
Kiev has troops on military alert and demands Moscow release ships and crew members
Russian forces fired on and detained three Ukrainian naval vessels in the Black Sea, near the Crimean peninsula, a move that threatened to reignite tensions between Moscow and Kiev. Image: FSB Handout via RTR
MOSCOW—Ukraine’s defense ministry put its troops on military alert Monday, a day after Russian forces fired on and detained three Ukrainian naval vessels near the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, a move that threatened to reignite tensions between Moscow and Kiev.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called on parliament to approve his declaration of martial law for 30 days starting Wednesday. In a televised address, Mr. Poroshenko said the measure was necessary in order to prepare the country’s defenses in case of a full-scale invasion by Russian forces, which he said intelligence reports showed were gathering along the countries’ border.
Mr. Poroshenko said that Ukraine’s Council on National Security and Defense had proposed that he declare martial law for 60 days, but that he had chosen 30 days instead in order not to interfere with the campaign for presidential elections, which he said should take place March 31.
Mr. Poroshenko, who is seeking re-election, demanded Russia release the ships and its crew members amid the biggest confrontation between the two nations since Russia’s 2014 military intervention in Ukraine when Moscow annexed Crimea and supported an armed uprising in the country’s east. Russian authorities said 24 Ukrainian soldiers had been detained after the incident.
The situation threatens to raise tensions between the Kremlin and the West, which has supported Ukraine in recent years, days ahead of the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires, where U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are due to meet.
The White House referred questions about Ukraine and the call for martial law to the State Department, which didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The confrontation began when three Ukrainian naval vessels—two armored artillery ships and one tugboat—were traveling from the Black Sea port of Odessa to reinforce a Ukrainian naval grouping on the Sea of Azov.
A Ukraine army APC is shown in eastern Ukraine, on Monday. PHOTO: ALEXANDER SHULMAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Russian coast guard stopped the ships, fired at them and prevented them from passing through the Kerch Strait, which separates the two bodies of water. Several crew members were injured as a result, both Russian and Ukrainian authorities said.
Moscow has blamed the incident on Ukraine, saying Russian coast guard ships had detained the vessels after they were performing dangerous maneuvers in Russian waters. The Federal Security Service, which oversees Russia’s border forces, said its coast guards were forced to shoot at the ships after Ukrainian vessels ignored orders to stop.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that the incident wasn’t an attack but an attempt to protect Russia’s borders. Mr. Putin, he said, had been alerted to the standoff on Sunday and was being kept up-to-date on the situation.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia was inspecting the detained ships and said Moscow wasn’t afraid that the incident at the Kerch Strait could bring about any new Western sanctions.
Russia has already been the target of numerous sanctions, beginning in 2014 when it intervened in Ukraine following the overthrow of a pro-Russian president. Since then it has faced additional measures for 2016 election meddling in the U.S. and the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the U.K.
“Regarding sanctions…They’ve long ago stopped bothering us,” he said during a news conference.
Mr. Poroshenko spoke about the incident Monday with Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, of which Ukraine isn’t a member.
The secretary-general expressed full support for Ukraine’s navigational rights in its territorial waters under international law, according to a NATO statement.
Both Russia and Ukraine have the right to navigate the waters in the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov, according to a 2003 agreement.
Tensions around the Sea of Azov have risen in recent months as Russia has delayed passage in and out of the Kerch Strait for Ukrainian ships. Industrial centers on the sea, including Mariupol and Berdyansk, depend on ship traffic as an economic lifeline to export metals and grains. Russia in turn has accused Ukraine of harassing its ships.
The European Union also lent its support to Kiev, and EU foreign affairs spokeswoman, Maja Kocijancic, said Monday at a regular press briefing that the confrontation was “one of the top priorities” for the 28-member state body.
“It is imperative that utmost restraint is shown to de-escalate the situation,” Ms. Kocijancic said, encouraging Russia to immediately release the Ukrainian serviceman and open the Kerch Strait to resolve the “unacceptable” developments.
Russian and Ukrainian assets took a hit Monday amid rising tensions between the two neighbors.
The Russian ruble fell by 1% against the dollar while the RTS stock market index shed 1.9%.
Investors also sold Ukrainian government debt, with the yield on government bond maturing in 2025, rising to 10.487% from 9.922%.
The confrontation and likely imposition of martial law plays to Mr. Poroshenko’s strengths as he seeks re-election in March. He is seen as a capable figure who has rallied international support and stood up to Moscow, though many fault him for his failure to crack down on corruption or increase living standards in the country.
The detention of the two armored artillery ships is a loss for Ukraine’s navy. The forces only have six such ships, all of which were built over the last several years to help Kiev fill a gap in its naval forces after Russia impounded Ukraine’s naval ships following the annexation of Crimea.
The two ships were traveling to the Sea of Azov to reinforce two other armored artillery vessels stationed there.
—Ann M. Simmons in Moscow, Emre Peker in Brussels and Georgi Kantchev in London contributed to this article.
Write to Thomas Grove at thomas.grove@wsj.com