Al Jazeera:
Ukraine’s parliament has voted to extend martial law and military mobilisation for another three months, prolonging the wartime measures until at least August 6.
Lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak said the extension of martial law passed by a 357-1 vote, while a measure to maintain troop mobilisation was approved 356-1.
Under Ukraine’s constitution, elections cannot be held during martial law – a provision that remains in effect despite external calls, including from Russia and the United States, for a timeline on a future vote.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose five-year term was originally due to end in May last year, and even raised the prospect of a temporary United Nations-backed government to lead Ukraine to elections.
Reacting to the martial law extension, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Kyiv of trying to “preserve its unstable structure”.
In February, US President Donald Trump described Zelenskyy as a “dictator without elections”, prompting Ukrainians to rally around their leader and boosting his approval ratings.
