Putin declares martial law in 4 annexed Ukrainian regions amidst evacuation of residents

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he has signed a decree to introduce martial law to the four regions annexed by his country from Ukraine.

Putin announced the measure on the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia at an online meeting of the Russian Security Council on Wednesday.

He criticized the Ukrainian administration, saying it has refused negotiations and continues to shell Russian territories.

Putin has defined his country’s invasion of Ukraine as a “special military operation.”

With the latest measure, he apparently made clear his intention to place the four Russian-occupied regions on a war footing as Ukraine’s military has stepped up counteroffensives.

The pro-Russian head of the Ukrainian region of Kherson says residents as well as administrative bodies there are being evacuated to a safer area. The announcement comes amid major counteroffensives by Ukraine’s forces to retake the region annexed by Moscow.

Ukrainian forces are believed to be preparing to advance to the region’s main city of Kherson as part of their counteroffensives.

The head of the region said on Wednesday that about 50,000 to 60,000 people will be evacuated to Russia and the east bank of the Dnipro River over the next week.

The official said about 40 percent of Kherson’s residents have already fled the region in the past two days.

He added that administrative bodies are also being moved to safer places — in a clear acknowledgment of the difficult situation.

Russia’s new military commander in Ukraine, Sergey Surovikin, acknowledged on Tuesday that the situation in the Kherson region is difficult.

The British defense ministry said on Wednesday that eight months into the invasion, major elements of Russia’s military leaders are increasingly dysfunctional.

It said that at the tactical level, there is a worsening shortage of junior officers capable of organizing and leading newly mobilized reservists.