The legal basis for the introduction of martial law in Ukraine () is the

Constitution of Ukraine The Constitution of Ukraine (, ) is the fundamental law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the ''Verkhovna Rada'', the parliament of Ukraine, on 28 June 1996. The constitution was passed with 315 ayes o ...

, the Law of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

"On the legal status of

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

" (No. 389-VIII from May 12, 2015) and presidential decrees about the introduction of martial law. Modern-day martial law has been introduced two times in Ukraine; in 2018 for 30 days and an ongoing period since 24 February 2022 in response to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

that started on 24 February 2022.

Law "On the legal status of martial law"

The previous law "On the legal status of martial law" was adopted in 2000 and signed by President

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (, ; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine, serving from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only president of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by demo ...

. It was changed several times: in 2003, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014. In 2015,

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

introduced bill No. 2541 to parliament. It was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on May 12 and returned with the signature of the President of Ukraine on June 8. In order to implement the new law, the

Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (), commonly referred to as the Government of Ukraine (), is the highest body of state Executive (government), executive power in Ukraine. As the Cabinet of Ministers of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republi ...

approved a typical plan for the introduction and provision of measures for the legal regime of martial law in Ukraine or in its separate areas. In response to prolonged military intervention, central units of the executive branch of Ukraine created relevant divisions. In the Ministry of Social Policy operates Divilion for social adaptation of ATO participants and retired servicemen, in the Ministry of Health – Division of coordination and providing medical care during anti-terrorist operations, emergency and martial law. During martial law public holidays in Ukraine become working days, while they are a day off in peacetime.

Elections and martial law

The

allows for some specific restrictions on rights and freedoms when the state of martial law is in effect. The Constitution explicitly extends the five-year authority of the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

(the national parliament of Ukraine) in the state of martial law until the first meeting of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the next parliamentary term, elected after the cancellation of the state of martial law. Scholars have stated that the Ukrainian constitution does not hold national elections while martial law is in effect.

The 2023 Ukrainian parliamentary election was not held and the 2024 Ukrainian presidential election also did not take place on its scheduled date of 31 March 2024.

History

On May 28, 2015, in the program "Year of Poroshenko," the President said that a decree on the introduction of a martial law in Ukraine would be signed if a truce was violated and an offensive would take place on the position of the

Armed Forces of Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...

2018 martial law

A period of

was introduced by presidential decree on November 26, 2018 in 10 regions of

from 14:00 local time for 30 days on with the aim of strengthening the defense of Ukraine against the background of increasing tension with Russia. This happened after the incident in the Kerch Strait. Martial law was ended after 30 days. Initially, President Poroshenko signed a decree for martial law within the whole of Ukraine for 60 days; however, after 5 hours of deliberations, a less restrictive version was signed into the law by an emergency session of the

. During the martial law (and starting on 30 November 2018) Ukraine banned all Russian men between 16 and 60 from entering the country for the period of the martial law with exceptions for humanitarian purposes. Ukraine claimed this was a security measure to prevent Russia from forming units of “private” armies on Ukrainian soil. According to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine 1,650 Russian citizens were refused entry into Ukraine from November 26 to December 26, 2018. On 27 December 2018, the

National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, ( NSDCU; , ''RNBOU'') or RNBO, is the coordinating state body of the executive power under the President of Ukraine on issues of national security and defense. It is a state agency tasked wi ...

announced that it had extended "the restrictive measures of the State Border Guard Service regarding the entry of Russian men into Ukraine.”

Martial law areas

The affected territories were located along the Russia–Ukraine border, along the part of the Moldova–Ukraine border which runs along the unrecognised state of

Transnistria Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...

(where Russian peacekeeping troops are present), and at the coasts of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

and

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...

. The Ukrainian

internal waters According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a nation's internal waters include waters on the side of the baseline of a nation's territorial waters that is facing toward the land, except in archipelagic states. It includes wa ...

of the Azov–

Kerch Kerch, also known as Keriç or Kerich, is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of Crimea. It has a population of Founded 2,600 years ago as the Colonies in antiquity#Greek colonies, ancient Greek colony Pantik ...

aquatory were also subject to the martial law.

Criticism

Despite public support, Poroshenko's decision was criticized because it occurred during the

2019 Ukrainian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 31 March 2019. As none of the 39 candidates on the ballot received an absolute majority of the initial vote, a runoff was held on 21 April between the top two vote-getters: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a t ...

, which might be affected by the restrictions to the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

by the martial law (item 3 of the martial law decree). On the other hand, it has been criticized as being too late, because before the Kerch Strait incident several significantly more serious military incidents did occur since the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine. Critics associate the timing with Poroshenko's pre-election political ambitions, since his ratings for the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election fell very low. Concern was also expressed that the martial law would affect international aid payments.

2022 martial law

On 24 February 2022, in response to the

, president

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

announced the start of martial law with approval from the

. Speaking in a televised address to the nation shortly before 7 a.m., he clarified that all able-bodied men from 18–60 years old were not allowed to leave the country as the country began a general mobilization of all reserve forces. According to a

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

post from the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, this prohibition of border-crossing remains in effect as of July 19, 2023. On 26 February, Kyiv Mayor

Vitali Klitschko Vitalii Volodymyrovych Klychko (; ; born 19 July 1971), known as Vitali Klitschko, is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer. He serves as mayor of Kyiv,Opposition Platform — For Life, the second-largest party in the

, and other, smaller ones. On 22 May the Ukrainian parliament extended martial law for another 90 days and automatically renews from that point on. In 2023, the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

finds that the introduction of martial law resulted in reduction of certain fundamental rights, but the restrictions are temporal and proportional to the situation. By mid- to late 2024, the Verkhovna Rada was holding quarterly votes to extend the period of martial law in 90-day increments with President Zelenskyy's subsequent signature, voting to extend on 23 July to 9 November, and again on 29 October to 7 February 2025. This trend continued in 2025, with the Verkhovna Rada voting again on 15 January to extend martial law to 9 May.

References

External links

* * {{2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine 2018 in Ukraine 2018 in law 2022 in Ukraine 2022 in law

Law of Ukraine Emergency laws in Ukraine Politics of Ukraine Military history of Ukraine Ukrainian responses to the Russo-Ukrainian War Events affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine 8th Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada