Now the situation near Bakhmut is not easy. For 8 years, the Russians have been accumulating a powerful contingent there, which has experience in military operations, because there were constant confrontations with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
It is obvious that from the very beginning of the “liberation” of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and access to the administrative borders – one of the key goals of Russia. Today, the situation near Bakhmut is extremely tense. Sergei Stukanov, a Donetsk journalist, said this to channel 24.
What will change the “martial law”
Russia is really illegal annexed Ukrainian territories, and, accordingly, the Russians and propagandists have a question: why is Russia retreating – as it was in the Kharkiv region, as it was in the Donetsk region near Liman. Why is Russia unable to hold the captured settlements?
According to Stukanov, Putin managed to eliminate this negative information wave to a certain extent as a result of 2 aspects:
- The introduction of mobilization, which lasted a month.
“At the propagandists there is hope that these “chmobiks” will get to the front and be able to turn the tide of the war, this is a negative trend for Russia,” he said.
- Introduction of the so-called “martial law” in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine .
However, from the point of view of Russia's actions in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, practically nothing will change. The fact is, the journalist explains, that martial law is traditionally introduced in order to expand the powers of local self-government bodies of the security forces and the state as a whole in accordance with military operations so that they can perform certain functions. For example, restrict the activities of the media, prohibit the free expression of the position of citizens through demonstrations and rallies, restrict the movement and entry of citizens in a certain area, carry out forced evacuation.
This is in democratic countries, acting according to the law. Any citizen can sue the state if it performs such functions in peacetime, and the state will reimburse and compensate. But we understand that this does not apply to Russia, which is a police state and which can implement all these measures, despite what is written in the legislation, Sergei Stukanov emphasized.
In the temporarily occupied territories, it is clearly seen that all this arsenal of measures was carried out by the Russians since February, when they entered the South and East. “Nothing forbade them to disperse rallies in Berdyansk, Melitopol and Kherson for Ukraine, despite the fact that there were allegedly no legal grounds for this. Nothing forbade them to deport people and plunder enterprises,” the journalist said.
However, it should be understood that its implementation had primarily an information and propaganda function. The Russian society had to demonstrate that the Russian authorities, including in the person of Putin, are not sitting idly by, but are planning to carry out the so-called “de-occupation” of Russian territories. Another function is a signal from the West.
The annexation was aimed at such a signal – nuclear blackmail of Western countries, they say, Russia will be ready to use any means, including nuclear weapons, if necessary, liberate these territories. Stukanov emphasized.
And it is the introduction of martial law that is a certain reminder, the Donetsk journalist notes, because the annexation did not make the proper impression. Consequently, the martial law should once again emphasize that the blackmail of the Russians has not gone away, and in which case they are ready to implement what was announced. watch the video
