Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko said on Sunday night that he would propose that parliament declare martial law in the country, Reuters reports.
The announcement came following the clash between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea, in which the Russian military attacked and seized three Ukrainian navy ships.
Poroshenko said the parliament on Monday could decide whether to approve martial law, which would restrict civil liberties and give state institutions greater power.
Russia’s FSB security service confirmed earlier that its border patrol boats had seized the Ukrainian naval vessels in the Black Sea and used weapons to force them to stop, according to Reuters.
The FSB said it had been forced to act because the ships — two small Ukrainian armored artillery vessels and a tug boat. — had illegally entered its territorial waters, attempted illegal actions, and ignored warnings to stop while maneuvering dangerously.
The incident is threatening to reignite the tensions between Ukraine and Russia, which intensified in 2014 when Russia occupied and annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine.