In Kherson, which directly borders annexed Crimea to the north and has access to the Black and Azov seas, authorities stepped up security at the administrative border with the peninsula and began restricting the passage of Russians. But three days later, Sobolevskyy was suggesting the current mobilization was an attempt by President Petro Poroshenko to boost his public standing four months ahead of a planned presidential election -- a charge similarly raised by Poroshenko’s critics in Kyiv and by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko on Friday barred Russian men of military age from entering the country, saying the order was needed to prevent an infiltration in what appeared to be an allusion to Moscow's 2014 takeover of Crimea from Ukraine. Poroshenko tweeted on Friday that the restriction was enacted to prevent the infiltration of “private armies.”

In 2014, Russian soldiers in unmarked uniforms infiltrated Crimea, taking control of Ukrainian ships and military bases on the peninsula as Moscow insisted its forces were not involved.
Ukraine bans Russian men aged between 16 and 60 from entering the country following the imposition of martial law. President Petro Poroshenko says the ban is to prevent the formation of "private armies" in Ukraine. Russia says it does not plan to retaliate.