Ukraine's parliament has extended for another 90 days the martial law and the mobilization imposed after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.
An overwhelming two-thirds majority voted in favour of the respective laws on Thursday, several memebers of parliament (MPs) announced on their Telegram channels. Both measures will now remain in effect until mid-November. Without an extension, martial law would have expired on August 18.
The extension of martial law makes it impossible to hold regular parliamentary elections scheduled by the constitution for October 29, lawmaker Olexiy Honcharenko wrote on Telegram. A prolonged war also threatens to set back the presidential election, which is due to be held on March 31, 2024 under the constitution.
Ukraine has been defending itself against Russia for over 17 months. Martial law was imposed immediately after the invasion started on February 24, 2022.
Ukrainian men of conscript age between 18 and 60 are only allowed to leave the country in exceptional circumstances.
