Ukraine on Monday imposed martial law for 30 days in parts of the country most vulnerable to an attack from Russia after President Petro Poroshenko warned of the "extremely serious" threat of a land invasion.
Poroshenko said martial law was necessary to bolster Ukraine's defences after Russia seized three Ukrainian naval ships and took their crews prisoner at the weekend.
Parliament approved the introduction of martial law after Poroshenko reassured some sceptical lawmakers that it would not be used to curb civil liberties or delay elections scheduled for next year.
It came at the end of a day when Ukraine and Russia traded accusations about Sunday's standoff and Kiev's allies weighed in to condemn Moscow's behaviour.
With relations still raw after Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and its backing for a pro-Moscow insurgency in eastern Ukraine, the crisis risked pushing the two countries into open conflict.
"Russia has been waging a hybrid war against our country for a fifth year. But with an attack on Ukrainian military boats it moved to a new stage of aggression," Poroshenko said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he did not like what was happening between Russia and Ukraine and was working with European leaders on the situation.
In a phone call with Poroshenko, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg offered the alliance's "full support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty." Ukraine is not a NATO member though it aspires to membership.
Washington's envoy to the United Nations said Russia's actions were an "outrageous violation of sovereign Ukrainian territory" and sanctions on Russia would remain in place.
The European Union, Britain, France, Poland, Denmark, and Canada all condemned what they called Russian aggression. German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed the need for dialogue.
The stand-off in the Azov Sea is more combustible now than at any time in the past four years as Ukraine has rebuilt its armed forces, previously in disarray, and has a new generation of commanders who are confident and have a point to prove.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 International, Reuters
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: tvn24