KIEV: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Thursday he could not rule out a full-scale Russian invasion after the military reported the worst violence in the pro-Moscow separatist east for a year.
Poroshenko he did not rule out introducing martial law and a new wave of military mobilization if the conflict with pro-Russian separatists worsened.
Poroshenko made his comments as fresh tension with Russia over Crimea reignited fears that a fragile cease-fire deal hammered out in the Belarussian capital Minsk in February 2015 could collapse following the deadliest month of fighting in a year.
“If the situation escalates in the east and in Crimea we don’t rule out the possibilities (that) we will be forced to introduce martial law and announce a (further) mobilization,” Poroshenko said in a televised speech from the western Lviv region.
Military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said insurgent attacks had doubled from the previous day as tensions between Kiev and Moscow soared over Kremlin charges last week that Ukraine plotted to stage armed incursions into Russian-annexed Crimea.
“The last time we witnessed a similar intensity of fire using heavy armaments was a year ago,” he told reporters in Kiev.
Poroshenko responded to the violence by sending his top army commander into the conflict zone, and warned that he could “not exclude a full-scale Russian invasion (of Ukraine) along all fronts.”
“The likelihood of the conflict’s escalation remains very high,” the Ukrainian leader said in televised remarks from the western city of Lviv.
Poroshenko added that a further escalation may force him to introduce “martial law and a mobilization” of reserve forces Moscow did not immediately respond to Poroshenko’s comments.
Ukraine and its western allies accuse Moscow of trying to escalate a 28-month conflict in the country’s rust belt that has claimed more than 9,500 lives and began just weeks after Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula in March 2014.
Poroshenko did not make clear what introduction of martial law might mean, and whether he was talking about martial law in the whole country or only in some parts.
Ukrainian law stipulates that martial law is passed through a presidential degree that needs to be approved by Parliament.
Poroshenko he did not rule out introducing martial law and a new wave of military mobilization if the conflict with pro-Russian separatists worsened.
Poroshenko made his comments as fresh tension with Russia over Crimea reignited fears that a fragile cease-fire deal hammered out in the Belarussian capital Minsk in February 2015 could collapse following the deadliest month of fighting in a year.
“If the situation escalates in the east and in Crimea we don’t rule out the possibilities (that) we will be forced to introduce martial law and announce a (further) mobilization,” Poroshenko said in a televised speech from the western Lviv region.
Military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said insurgent attacks had doubled from the previous day as tensions between Kiev and Moscow soared over Kremlin charges last week that Ukraine plotted to stage armed incursions into Russian-annexed Crimea.
“The last time we witnessed a similar intensity of fire using heavy armaments was a year ago,” he told reporters in Kiev.
Poroshenko responded to the violence by sending his top army commander into the conflict zone, and warned that he could “not exclude a full-scale Russian invasion (of Ukraine) along all fronts.”
“The likelihood of the conflict’s escalation remains very high,” the Ukrainian leader said in televised remarks from the western city of Lviv.
Poroshenko added that a further escalation may force him to introduce “martial law and a mobilization” of reserve forces Moscow did not immediately respond to Poroshenko’s comments.
Ukraine and its western allies accuse Moscow of trying to escalate a 28-month conflict in the country’s rust belt that has claimed more than 9,500 lives and began just weeks after Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula in March 2014.
Poroshenko did not make clear what introduction of martial law might mean, and whether he was talking about martial law in the whole country or only in some parts.
Ukrainian law stipulates that martial law is passed through a presidential degree that needs to be approved by Parliament.
