Ukraine set to impose a state of emergency

SHAH ALAM - Ukraine is set to impose a state of emergency on all of its territories except for Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

According to its Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov in Kyiv today, this would empower communities across the country 41 million to impose restrictions.

Bloomberg quoted Danilov saying that the state of emergency would last 30 days first as they seek approval from Parliament. The emergency declaration, he said, would curb people's movements and mass gatherings as well as media coverage. Donetsk and Luhansk regions have been in a state of emergency since 2014.

Kyiv has urged Western nations to impose more sanctions on Russia following more sanctions from the United and its allies targeting the economy and Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba posted on Twitter saying that more sanctions were necessary "to stop Putin from further aggression”.

Kuleba added that it is necessary to increase the pressure in order to “strike” the Russian economy and President Vladamir Putin's entourage.

Yesterday, it was the European Union foreign ministers agreed on a package of sanctions targeting individuals and entities that "undermine Ukrainian integrity,".

The bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the full sanctions package was expected to be announced later today after final approval from other foreign ministers.

Meanwhile, Germany’s Deutsche Welle (DW) reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also signed a decree calling up reservists between the ages of 18 and 60 in a statement by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Ukraine also recommended that its nationals leave Russia earlier today.