Putin's martial law call helps him look strong at home - but the charade is crumbling

Declaring martial law helps the Russian president appear strong to some of his domestic audience at least, but to the less gullible here is a leader clutching at straws and running out of options. International Affairs Editor @DominicWaghorn Russia effectively already operates martial law in the regions it has stolen from Ukraine. Censorship, detention, deportation, restricted rights of assembly, seizure of property, forced labour; you name it and it is happening in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. In fact it is doing a lot worse. Take deportation alone. The US government reckons between 900,000 and 1.5 million Ukrainians have disappeared through filtration camps and into Russia, their whereabouts unknown. Ukraine latest news: War entering 'new phase' with 'something happening' in Kherson Or detention. Ukraine claims thousands have been held, tortured or disappeared during Russia's illegal occupation. So why impose it? Vladimir Putin is a president who must at all costs appe