
In four Moscow-occupied Ukrainian provinces that Russia had seized as its own last month, President Vladimir Putin proclaimed martial law. Additionally, Vladimir Putin gave the go-ahead for the formation of a special coordinating council to help Russia’s activities in Ukraine.
“We are working on solving very complex, large-scale tasks to ensure a reliable future for Russia, the future of our people,” Vladimir Putin said.
After suffering a number of significant setbacks in Ukraine at the beginning of September, the Russian President’s action represented a new escalation.
Vladimir Putin justified the action by claiming that the steps he was directing would improve the stability of the economy, industry, and output.
In Kherson, one of the four occupied regions, officials appointed by Russia earlier in the day issued orders ordering residents to leave certain locations as quickly as possible in preparation for an impending Ukrainian invasion. Kyiv referred to this as a “effort to generate fear.”