The Ukranian President Victor Yushchenko declared martial law yesterday and announced the National Security and Defense Council will become the supreme ruling authority following the rise of a new pneumonic plague outbreak.

Anyone that fails to comply with the NSDC will result in application to the law enforcement authorities, the president also said "“I instruct the Government and the Ministry of Health to immediately start preventive and promotional work in areas where there is no epidemic, targeting primarily the special risk groups,“"

The Ukrainian Health Minister Wasilij Knaizevicz also said the country's top prosecutor should open criminal proceedings against anyone opposing the implementation of mass flu vaccination campaigns.

“I demand the Government to immediately cancel the existing order of registration of medical supplies, including vaccines.”

“It is generally known that the only way to prevent any infection is vaccination,“ the address reads, “As the President I ask you, dear fellow citizens, to reconsider your attitude to vaccination and do it if necessary, but only, I emphasize it – only after consultation with the doctor.”

“this may lead to the emergence of an even more aggressive new virus”

The WHO however said that the strain of h1n1 in Ukraine seems no different than the normal swine flu break out elsewhere.