Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed into law Bill No 389-VIII On Legal Regime of Martial Law.
The bill passed by the Verkhovna Rada on May 12 was signed by the president on June 8, says a report posted on the Ukrainian parliament's website.
Hence, Ukraine has laid a foundation for the possible shift to war footing.
The document takes effect the day after its official publishing.
The chief of state submitted the bill, registration number 2541, for the parliament's consideration. The bill passed the first reading on April 9. The National Security and Defense Committee processed 88 amendments and accepted 33 of them before the second reading.
The bill defines "martial law as a special legal regime put into place in Ukraine or its individual regions in the case of an armed aggression, a threat of attack or jeopardy to independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, vests state power bodies, military commands, military administrations and local self-government bodies with powers they need to deter the threat and the armed aggression, to provide national security and to repel the danger to independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and puts temporary limits on constitutional human and civil rights and freedoms and rights and lawful interests of legal entities as a result of the aforesaid threats."
The bill says that the president can declare with his decree martial law throughout the Ukrainian territory or in its individual regions with the consent of the Verkhovna Rada. Martial law shall end with the expiry of the decree. The decree will spell out tasks of military commands, military administrations and local self-government bodies pertaining to the legal regime of martial law.