VLADIMIR Putin has announced sweeping new security powers across Russia and also imposed martial law in captured areas of Ukraine ahead of the battle for Kherson.
Kremlin officials are preparing for a major battle in occupied Kherson and have begun an evacuation, with Russia’s top general warning the situation was “very difficult”.
Putin hopes the new three-tiered security system imposed in mainland Russia and Crimea, annexed by the Kremlin in 2014, will give his war effort a boost.
In the six regions of Russia that border Ukraine and Crimea, an “economic mobilisation” will be imposed, essentially a watered-down version of martial law. As well as Crimea, the regions are Krasnodar, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kursk and Rostov.
“I consider it necessary to give additional powers to the leaders of all Russian regions,” Putin told the Russian Security Council. “I instruct the government, the ministry of defence and other departments to provide them with all necessary assistance.”
Under martial law, the four regions of Ukraine annexed by the Kremlin last month after a sham referendum will follow military censorship rules, allow arbitrary 30-day arrests, curfews and the conscription of civilians into the army. Russian forces will also be able to legally seize property and vehicles and there will be restrictions on travel. In the rest of the central and southern districts of Russia, the authorities will have strengthened security powers and can restrict travel.
Elsewhere in Russia, regional leaders will be able to prioritise support for the military and tighten security.
“All our soldiers, no matter what tasks they perform, must be provided with everything necessary,” Putin said.
According to Kremlin insiders, Putin was angered on Monday when Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, announced an early end to mobilisation in the Russian capital.
Putin has risked everything on a quick victory in Ukraine. With the death toll mounting, a chaotic mobilisation and now increased powers for his security forces, the Russian public are beginning to question Putin’s authority.
“This is a big deal,” said Mark Galeotti, a Russia analyst and the author of several books on the Kremlin.
“I am minded of the spread of creeping martial law by extraordinary measures under late tsarism, such that by 1917 most of the country was ‘extraordinary’. Not a great precedent.”
