Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada voted on 15 July to prolong nationwide martial law and general mobilization for another 90 days, running from 7 August to 5 November. The move, requested by President Volodymyr Zelensky, marks the 16th extension since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 and effectively keeps national elections on hold, leaving Zelensky in office at least until early November. In the same session, lawmakers backed Ukraine’s withdrawal from the 1997 Ottawa Convention that bans the use, stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel mines. The decision, supported by 299 deputies, follows similar steps by Poland, Finland and the Baltic states and is aimed at removing what Kyiv says is a defensive asymmetry with Russia, which never joined the treaty.