KYIV — Ukraine's parliament imposed a national state
of emergency on Wednesday aimed at helping to forge a response to the threat of
a Russian invasion.
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The measure was overwhelmingly approved on the same day that
Moscow began to evacuate its Kyiv embassy and Washington stepped up its
warnings about the chances of an all-out Russian attack.
"The situation is difficult but remains completely
under our control," Ukraine's security and defense council secretary
Oleksiy Danilov told lawmakers ahead of the vote.
The state of emergency allows Ukraine's regional governments
to adopt heightened security measures that range from tighter ID and vehicle
checks to more stringent policing.
They apply to all parts of Ukraine except for two
Russian-backed eastern separatist regions where a deadly insurgency has killed
more than 14,000 people in the past two years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's recognition of the
eastern provinces' independence on Monday sharply ramped up fears of an
imminent war.
Putin has signed decrees allowing the deployment of Russian
"peacekeeping" forces into rebel territories to back up the
independence claims.
The Russian leader said on Tuesday that his decision to send
in the troops will "depend on the situation on the ground".
But Russian state television has been filled with
allegations from rebel leaders in the past few days accusing Ukrainian soldiers
of launching deadly and unprovoked attacks against civilians.
Ukraine firmly denies the allegations.
The rapidly escalating tensions have forced US officials to
ramp up their warning about the threat of an imminent attack from at least
150,000 Russian forces believed to have encircled Ukraine.
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