From our news desk:
Martial Law Imposed In 10 Ukrainian Regions, Russia Says It's Sending More Missiles To Crimea
KYIV -- Russia said on November 28 that it will boost Crimean defenses by deploying more antiaircraft missiles in the region it seized in 2014, as martial law came into force for 30 days in parts of Ukraine following what Kyiv called an "act of aggression" by Moscow.
Ukraine introduced martial law in 10 of its 27 regions -- including all of those that border Russia or have coastlines -- after Russian coast guard craft rammed and fired on three Ukrainian Navy vessels off the Black Sea peninsula on November 25 before seizing the ships and detaining two dozen crew members, six of whom were wounded. Russia says the boats illegally entered its waters, but Ukraine denies that.
Amid anger and concern among Western governments, U.S. President Donald Trump said he may cancel a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Argentina later this week.
The Ukrainian parliament voted late on November 26 to impose martial law for 30 days in the provinces that President Petro Poroshenko said are the most vulnerable to "aggression from Russia."
The 10 provinces all border Russia or Moldova’s breakaway Transdniester region, where Russian troops are stationed, or have coastlines on the Black Sea or the Sea of Azov close to Crimea.
Among other things, martial law gives Ukrainian authorities the power to order a partial mobilization, strengthen air defenses, and take steps "to strengthen the counterintelligence, counterterrorism, and counter-sabotage regime and information security."
Amid speculation that Poroshenko would use martial law as a pretext to postpone a spring 2019 election in which polls show he faces an uphill battle to win a second term, the parliament speaker signed a resolution setting the date for March 31.
It is the first time Ukraine has imposed martial law since Russia seized Crimea in March 2014 and backed separatists fighting Kyiv's forces in a war that erupted in the eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk the following month.
While Russian forces occupied Crimea before the takeover and are heavily involved in the war in eastern Ukraine, the clash in the Black Sea near Crimea was the first case in which Russia has acknowledged its military or law enforcement forces have fired on Ukrainians.
The Kremlin called the introduction of martial law a "reckless" act that "potentially could lead to the threat of an escalation of tension in the conflict region in the southeast" of Ukraine.
A spokesman for Russia’s Southern Military District said that Moscow will add one S-400 surface-to-air missile system to the three already deployed in Crimea.
"The new air defense missile system will soon be put on combat duty to guard Russian airspace," Colonel Vadim Astafyev said. State-run news agency RIA said the system will be operational by the end of the year.
Moscow claims that Crimea is part of Russia, but the overwhelming majority of countries reject that and still consider it to be part of Ukraine.
Poroshenko said that Russia's actions threatened to lead to a "full-scale war" and accused Moscow of mounting a major buildup of forces near Ukraine.
"The number of [Russian] units that have been stationed along our entire border has increased dramatically," Poroshenko said in a television interview late on November 27, adding that the number of Russian tanks has tripled. Russia has not commented.
The clash in waters near Crimea was by far the biggest confrontation at sea after more than four years of war between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, where more than 10,300 civilians and combatants have been killed.
It followed months of growing tension over the waters in and around the Kerch Strait, where Russia opened a bridge leading to Crimea in May.
The strait is the only route for ships traveling between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, where Ukraine has several ports.
In an interview published late on November 27, Trump said he was considering canceling his scheduled meeting with Putin on the sidelines of a Group of 20 (G20) summit in Buenos Aires on November 30-December 1.
Trump told The Washington Post he was waiting for a "full report" from his national-security team about the incident.
"That will be very determinative," Trump told the Post. "Maybe I won't even have the meeting...I don't like that aggression. I don't want that aggression at all," he said.
Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on November 28 that "preparations are continuing, the meeting was agreed."
"We don't have any other information from [U.S. officials]," he said when asked about Trump's comments.
Meanwhile, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert urged European states to do more to support Ukraine and said Washington wants to see tougher enforcement of sanctions against Russia.
European Union leaders said they were considering ratcheting up sanctions on Russia for illegally blocking access to the Sea of Azov over the weekend and because of its defiance of calls to release the Ukrainian crew members.
In defiance against calls by Kyiv and the West, a court in Simferopol, the capital of Crimea, on November 27 ordered 12 of the the Ukrainian servicemen to be held in custody for two months.
Some of the other sailors were expected to appear before the court on November 28.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukraniain Service, AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa, BBC, Interfax, and RIA
Is anyone surprised he said this?
ICYMI