Zelensky qualifies Putin's martial law in annexed territories of "hysteria of the Chekist comrades"

MADRID, 20 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky has pointed to the decree of martial law announced Tuesday by his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in four Ukrainian regions that Russia claims as its own, calling them "hysteria of the 'Czek comrades'".

"Now they are signing some decrees that cement the war. Well, what can I say? It's just hysteria from the 'Czekist comrades'. Hysteria that will be greater the closer the defeat of Russia is," the Ukrainian president said in the speech newspaper in which he addresses his citizens.

Zelensky has made reference in this sense to the secret political Police committee of the early years of the Soviet Union and precedent of the KGB, citing the Extraordinary Commission for the Fight against Counterrevolution and Sabotage of All Russia (Czech), which had as objective to liquidate counterrevolutionary acts.

Likewise, the Ukrainian leader has warned citizens "in the temporarily occupied areas of the south and east of Ukraine", indicating that "the occupiers will try to recruit men" to join their troops. "Please avoid it as much as you can. Try to leave the occupied territory", he has requested him.

"If you cannot do this and you find yourself in Russian military structures, at the earliest opportunity try to lay down your arms and reach the Ukrainian positions," he said.

The Ukrainian president has also criticized that Moscow avoided using the word "war" during the first six months of the invasion: "It punished its own people with criminal cases for it."

Putin announced the Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporiyia and Jershon decree at a Security Council meeting, claiming it was limited to formalizing an already existing 'de facto' situation.

The Russian president accused the Ukrainian government of not recognizing the democratic expression of the citizens of the four regions and of refusing to negotiate. "The shelling continues. Civilians are dying," Putin lamented, according to the Interfax news agency.

Martial law implies the restriction of freedoms and rights in the areas it affects and is justified, according to Russian law, by the attack of a foreign Army on Russian territory, among other reasons.