MOSCOW/KIEV, November 26
Russia has seized three Ukrainian naval ships in a strait near Moscow-annexed Crimea, raising fears of military escalation and prompting an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
In the unprecedented incident, Russia said it used weapons “in order to stop the Ukrainian military,” which it claims illegally entered its waters, confirming “three Ukrainian navy ships were boarded and searched.”
Ukraine’s navy said the incident took place on Sunday as two small warships and a tugboat were heading through the Kerch Strait, a narrow waterway that gives access to the Sea of Azov that is used by Ukraine and Russia.
Russia, meanwhile, ignored Western calls to release captured ships and accused Kiev of plotting with its Western allies to provoke a conflict. Kiev in turn accused Russia of military aggression and put its armed forces on full combat alert, saying it reserved the right to defend itself.
Ukrainian lawmakers were due to decide whether to introduce martial law for two months later on Monday, a move President Petro Poroshenko has backed.
The crisis erupted when Russia’s border patrol boats belonging to Russia’s FSB security service seized two small Ukrainian armoured artillery vessels and a tug boat after opening fire on them and wounding several sailors on Sunday. They had been trying to enter the Sea of Azov from the Black Sea. The FSB said it had opened a criminal case into what it called the ships’ illegal entry into Russian territorial waters.
On Monday maritime traffic resumed in the Kerch Strait, which separates Crimea from the Russian mainland, but Moscow showed no sign of releasing the ships and their crews. The stand-off is more combustible now than at any time in the past four years because Ukraine has rebuilt its armed forces and has a new generation of commanders who are confident and have a point to prove. — Agencies
What’s behind naval standoff?
History of dispute
- Squabbles over control of the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait, which connects to the Black Sea to the south, are nothing new. Tensions flared in 2003 during Vladimir Putin’s first term as Russian president
- These were calmed with a 2003 bilateral treaty stipulating that both countries could use the Kerch Strait and Azov Sea freely for commercial shipping and must notify each other while sending military vessels
Squabbles in 2018
- Tensions have increased in the area this year, with Ukraine accusing Russia of persistently detaining ships sailing to and from its ports on the Azov Sea, especially Mariupol and Berdyansk, with a view to disrupting trade
- Russia in turn accuses Ukraine of harassing Russian ships, and says its own checks on Ukrainian vessels are lawful and necessary to ensure the security of the area
Sunday shots
- Russia seized three Ukrainian vessels after opening fire on them. Russia’s FSB security service said the ships, two small Ukrainian amoured artillery vessels and a tug boat, had illegally entered its territorial waters
- Russia accused the ships of manoeuvring dangerously and ignoring its instructions with the aim of stirring up tensions. Ukraine said it had notified Russia in advance of the three ships’ movements as per the 2003 accord
What now?
- Ukraine has put its forces on full combat alert and President Petro Poroshenko has asked Parliament to back his decision to impose martial law. At Kiev’s urging, its Western allies could push for more sanctions on Russia
- But any military response from Ukraine risks inviting a forceful reaction from Russia, whose Black Sea fleet is stationed in Crimea and outguns the Ukrainian navy
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