Poroshenko warns of conflict escalation, possible 'martial law'

Speaking in the Lviv region on August 18, Poroshenko said that if the situation in eastern Ukraine and the region of Crimea, which Russia forcibly annexed from Ukraine in 2014, continues to deteriorate, “we will have to impose martial law and order mobilization.” The President said the number of attacks in the past day was the highest in weeks. A significant number of them were with the use of heavy artillery systems, banned under the Minsk agreements on ceasefire. According to the head of State, earlier attacks were mounted with the use of small arms and mortars and focused along the contact line. While now the enemy uses heavy artillery systems and targets depots and command posts, which are located 8 to 12 kilometres from the contact line. Poroshenko accused the separatists of trying to undermine the Minsk peace process aimed at settling the conflict.