Ukraine Declares State Of Emergency; Citizens Should Leave Russia
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukraine declared a state of emergency for 30 days and said Ukrainians should leave Russia immediately.
The developments were due to create a massive flow of refugees. Up to three million Ukrainians live in Russia, and many people have families in both countries.
Russian troops are already reported in eastern Ukraine, where Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the separatist-controlled Luhansk and Donetsk republics independent.
Kyiv also slapped sanctions on hundreds of Russians over Moscow’s recognition of the “republics” in eastern Ukraine.
Thousands of miles away in Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden approved sanctions against the company that built Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline.
European Union sanctions targeting Russia also took effect despite reluctance in countries such as EU member Hungary, heavily dependent on Russian energy supplies.
The West says punishments are needed as Moscow plans to invade Ukraine further with up to 200,000 forces near the country’s borders.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres shared those concerns. He told the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday that the world is “facing a moment of peril” over the Ukraine-Russia crisis.
The developments came as Ukraine’s neighbor Hungary sent additional troops to its border with Ukraine for both “humanitarian and security tasks.”
The country’s fiercely anti-migration Prime Minister Viktor Orbán warned that a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine could lead to “hundreds of thousands of refugees” moving towards Hungary, a European Union member state.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba suggested that Russia seeks reasons to invade.
He noted that night-shift workers of the Titan chemicals plant in annexed Crimea had been evacuated from the facility.
He said it was a possible preparation for “another staged provocation by Russia,” which annexed Crimea in 2014.
He suggested that Russia could, for instance, falsely blame Ukrainian government forces for an attack on the chemicals plant and other incidents to justify a massive invasion.
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