Russian attack aftermath: Ukraine president proposes martial law

Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko said on Monday he would propose that parliament declare martial law in the country after the Russian military attacked and seized three Ukrainian navy ships in the Black Sea.

He said the parliament on Monday could decide whether to approve the martial law, which would restrict civil liberties and give state institutions greater power.

The Ukrainian navy said Russian special forces had seized three of its ships in the Black Sea and that two of its sailors had been wounded in the incident.

It made the statement after earlier saying that Russia had opened fire on the ships, which Russia blocked from passing through the Kerch Strait into the Sea of Azov.

Russia confirms it used weapons against Ukrainian ships

Russia’s FSB security service said early on Monday its border patrol boats had seized three Ukrainian naval vessels in the Black Sea near Crimea on Sunday and used weapons to force them to stop, the RIA news agency reported.

The FSB was cited as saying it had acted because the Ukrainian vessels had illegally entered its territorial waters, ignored warnings to stop, and manoeuvred dangerously.

RIA quoted the FSB as saying three Ukrainian sailors had been wounded in the incident and were getting medical care. Their lives were not in danger, the FSB said.