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Ukraine's martial law ends after a month
Summary
A retrospective on the lifting of martial law, imposed after the Kerch Strait clash involving three Ukrainian Navy vessels.
What did it mean when martial law in Ukraine came to an end on 26 December 2018? It closed a month-long period that began after an attack on three Ukrainian Navy vessels near the Kerch Strait.
The incident itself took place on 25 November 2018. According to the background to these events, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) coast guard fired upon and captured the three vessels as they tried to pass from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov on their way to the port of Mariupol.
The lifting of martial law on 26 December 2018 came a month after that attack. The measure had been introduced in response to the attack, and its expiry marked the end of that special legal regime.
The Kerch Strait episode has since been described as the first time Russian forces openly engaged Ukrainian forces during the Russo-Ukrainian War. That description comes from later accounts, not from anything known on 26 December 2018.
