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Russia seizes three Ukrainian naval ships off Crimea
KIEV, Nov 26, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – 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 on
Monday.
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.
It said a Russian border guard vessel rammed the tugboat in “openly
aggressive actions” and then fired on the ships, immobilising all three.
The confrontation at sea is a dangerous development in the long-running
conflict pitting Ukraine against Russia and Russian-backed rebels in the east
of the country.
The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Monday to
discuss the escalation, US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said. The meeting
was requested by both Russia and Ukraine, diplomatic sources told AFP.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has asked parliament to
vote Monday on whether to impose martial law on the country for 60 days,
after his Military Cabinet recommended the move in a late-night meeting.
Throwing his weight behind the measure, which is far from guaranteed to
pass, he said it “in no way means that Ukraine will carry out any offensive
actions”.
“I want to emphasise separately that we have all irrefutable evidence that
this aggression, this attack on the Ukrainian Navy’s warships was not a
mistake, not an accident, but a deliberate action,” he said in a statement.
Ukraine said six of its soldiers were injured, two seriously, but Russia’s
FSB security service reported only three had suffered non-life threatening
injuries and were given medical treatment.
– West urges restraint –
The development has sparked alarm among Kiev’s Western allies.
“We expect Russia to restore freedom of passage at the Kerch strait and
urge all to act with utmost restraint to de-escalate the situation
immediately,” the European Union said in a statement.
NATO also urged “restraint and de-escalation”, and called on Russia “to
ensure unhindered access to Ukrainian ports in the Azov Sea, in accordance
with international law”.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said it considered “these aggressive actions” a
violation of international law that would be met with “an international and
diplomatic legal response”.
Russia, which claims the waters off Crimea after annexing the peninsula in
2014, accused Kiev of illegally entering its waters.
“Having breached this morning the Russian border, the three Ukrainian ships
— the Berdyansk, the Nikopol and the Yani Kapu — tried again on November 25
at 19:00 (Moscow time) to conduct illegal actions in Russian territorial
waters,” the FSB said.
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The FSB, which oversees the border guard service, also said the Ukrainian
ships had failed to respond to the “legal demands” of the Russian
authorities.
Russian politicians accused Ukraine of acting at the behest of its Western
allies and deliberately attempting to escalate the conflict.
Crimean leader Sergei Aksyonov wrote on Facebook that he “was sure the
Western masters of the Kiev regime are behind this act of provocation”.
Pyotr Tolstoy, deputy speaker of the Russian parliament, warned on Facebook
that “the Ukrainian puppet authorities… are risking unleashing a large
military conflict”.
“One thing is clear: Russia won’t allow military provocations in its
territorial waters,” he said.
– Increased Russian controls –
Ukraine said it gave Russia advance warning of its ships’ route, which its
vessels are obliged to take to reach the Sea of Azov.
It said the Kerch Strait was blocked by a tanker, and that Russian military
aircraft were flying over the area.
The latest incident comes after the Ukrainian navy in September complained
about “acts of provocation” by Russian border guards against its ships taking
the same route.
Ukraine has increased the number of its navy ships and border guard patrols
in the Sea of Azov after Russia deployed five more warships there.
Kiev says its naval buildup is due to Russia stepping up controls in the
area this year and carrying out lengthy checks on commercial shipping that
were very costly for freight and port companies.
Kiev and the West have accused Moscow of deliberately blocking ships from
accessing Mariupol, which has vital access to heavy industry in the region.
Mariupol is close to the region of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russian-
backed separatists in a conflict that has caused at least 10,000 deaths since
2014.
The United States, a key ally of Ukraine, is opposed to Russia’s takeover
of Crimea and is looking to reduce Ukraine’s dependency on Russian gas
pipelines.
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