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Why did Ukraine's martial law end on 26 December 2018?
Summary
A look back at the day martial law in Ukraine lapsed, a month after the Kerch Strait incident involving three Navy vessels.
What did it mean when martial law in Ukraine came to an end on 26 December 2018? The measure, in force for a month, lapsed after an attack on three Ukrainian Navy vessels near the Kerch Strait.
The attack took place on 25 November 2018. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) coast guard fired upon and captured the three Ukrainian Navy vessels as they tried to pass from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov through the strait. They were on their way to the port of Mariupol.
The martial law that ended on 26 December 2018 had followed directly from that confrontation. Its expiry a month later closed that chapter of the domestic response.
The Kerch Strait incident was the first time Russian forces had openly engaged Ukrainian forces during the Russo-Ukrainian War. That made the episode a significant moment in the conflict, and the end of martial law marked the point at which Ukraine returned to its ordinary legal footing.
