Russian President Vladimir Putin declared martial law Wednesday in the four regions of Ukraine that Moscow illegally annexed as Ukrainian troops continue their unrelenting drive to retain control of the occupied territories.
Putin provided few details of what martial law would entail, but restrictions on travel and public gatherings, tighter censorship and broader authority for law enforcement agencies are likely.
President Joe Biden called the tactic an intimidation attempt by Putin – the “only tool available to him” – and said it won’t work.
Putin gave additional emergency powers to the Russia-appointed heads of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia provinces. Ukrainian troops have retaken land in all four of them. Putin also ordered the establishment of a Coordination Committee to increase interaction between government agencies in dealing with his struggling “special military operation.”
The Russian leader also signed a decree restricting movement in and out of Crimea and Russian regions bordering Ukraine, including Krasnodar, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kursk and Rostov. Security will be heightened at government buildings, transportation and communication hubs and other locations.
“I think that Vladimir Putin finds himself in an incredibly difficult position,” Biden told reporters Wednesday, “and what it reflects to me is it seems his only tool available to him is to brutalize individual citizens in Ukraine – Ukrainian citizens – to try to intimidate them into capitulating.
“They’re not going to do that.”
– Contributing: Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY
Other developments:
►EU member countries agreed Wednesday on a new round of sanctions against Iran for providing Russia with drones used to attack Ukrainian targets.
►Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said heat would be pumped into urban buildings starting Thursday – several days earlier than usual – to encourage residents not to turn on electric heaters and overload a power supply system compromised by Russian attacks.
►Ukrainian authorities said the Russian army attacked nine southeastern regions of Ukraine on Wednesday using drones, rockets and heavy artillery. The attacks once again focused on destroying energy facilities, the presidential office said. Six civilians were reported killed.
►The Russian military says it has defeated a Ukrainian attempt to seize control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
►The deputy chief of Norway’s domestic security agency, Hedvig Moe, said there’s “an elevated intelligence threat from Russia” after drone sightings were reported near key infrastructure sites.
11 charged with violating U.S. laws to aid Russian military
Nearly a dozen people and two companies were charged in two cases Wednesday with attempting to help the Russian military through unlawful schemes to export dual-use technologies, some of which were used by Russian troops in Ukraine, the Justice Department said.
Five Russians nationals and two Venezuelan oil traders were charged in the Eastern District of New York with money laundering and evading sanctions in their efforts to share American military technology with Russian enterprises.
In the other indictment, unsealed in the District of Connecticut, three Latvians, a Ukrainian who lives in Estonia and two companies were charged with conspiring to smuggle a machine used in nuclear proliferation and defense programs from the U.S. to Russia. The so-called “jig grinder” never made it to Russia.
“This week’s indictments and arrests highlight the FBI’s work countering Russia’s flagrant evasion of U.S. sanctions and violation of export regulations,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
From Russia without love: Kremlin closer to severing ties to West
There is no point in Russia maintaining a diplomatic presence in the West since Europe decided to sever any economic cooperation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said…
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