By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday imposed martial law on four regions of Ukraine that he annexed earlier this month, in the latest sign that the situation on the battlefields in the east and south of the country is deteriorating.
In addition, Putin raised the state of alarm in Crimea and eight Russian provinces bordering Ukraine, in an apparent response to the increased willingness of Ukrainian forces to retaliate beyond their borders to the Russian missile and drone strikes that have badly damaged the energy grid and other civilian infrastructure over the last 10 days.
The moves come on the same day that the Russian-appointed governor of the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson began the evacuation of civilians from the regional capital, in anticipation of a Ukrainian attack on the city.