President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia declared martial law on Wednesday in four regions of Ukraine that Moscow recently annexed but that it does not fully control. Separately, he handed more power to regional governors in Russian areas.

A presidential decree announced martial law in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions — whose annexation by Russia last month every country besides North Korea considers illegal.

“I signed a decree on the introduction of martial law in these four constituent entities of the Russian Federation,” Putin said at the start of a meeting of his Security Council via video conference, referring to the four Ukrainian regions that the Kremlin unilaterally declared to be part of Russia.

“In addition, in the current situation, I consider it necessary to give additional powers to the leaders of all Russian regions.”

Martial law in the four annexed territories will allow the authorities to impose curfews, seize property, forcibly resettle residents to another region, imprison undocumented immigrants, establish checkpoints and detain people for up to 30 days.

A separate decree allows for significantly more restrictive measures to be introduced in regions across Russia, including in Moscow, to more tightly control critical infrastructure facilities, public transit and communications.

Putin said both decrees would immediately be sent to parliament for approval.

According to Putin, theregional leaders will be givenadditional powers “to ensuresecurity.” The president alsosaid that territorial defenceheadquarters, a type of civilian militia, should be set up inthe four annexed regions.

The Russian occupation government in Kherson appeared on Wednesday to bepreparing for an all-out battle for control of the strategic southern region as it began relocating civilians from the regional capital and said it would move its leadership.

Moscow’s top military commander in Ukraine appeared to acknowledge on Tuesday that his army’s hold on Kherson was slipping.

Indian advisory

The Indian embassy in Ukraine on Wednesday asked all its nationals to leave the country at the earliest by available means in view of the escalation in hostilities, reports our special correspondent in New Delhi.

In an advisory issued late on Wednesday, the embassy in Kyiv also asked Indians against travelling to Ukraine.

The advisory comes in the wake of a Ukraine offensive to take back southern and eastern areas annexed by Russia.

New York Times News Service