Russia, Ukraine are in standoff at sea
MOSCOW — Tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated Sunday after the neighbors accused each other of provoking an incident at sea, with Moscow closing a vital water route and Ukraine’s leader declaring that he wants to implement martial law in response.
On Sunday morning, Russia prevented three Ukrainian ships from entering the Kerch Strait, a narrow strip of water linking the Azov and Black seas. According to the Ukrainian navy, vessels belonging to Russia’s border service opened fire on the Ukrainian fleet, injuring six sailors, before seizing two of the ships.
Moscow had prevented the ships from entering the strait by placing a cargo vessel beneath a Russian-controlled bridge. Russia then closed the strait.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko endorsed the military cabinet’s proposal, rushed through in Kiev well past midnight, to install martial law across the country for 60 days. On Monday, the vote will be put before parliament and is expected to sail through.
In Ukraine, martial law grants authorities and the military the powers to ensure national security.
“It is now likely possible that Russia plans further acts of aggression at sea or on the ground. We must be ready for this,” Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said on Twitter.
Russia said the Ukrainian navy illegally entered its waters. The two artillery boats and a tugboat “unlawfully entered a temporarily closed area of Russia’s territorial sea at about 7 a.m. Moscow time,” Russia’s border service told the Interfax news agency. “It is clear that their goal is to create a conflict situation in the region.”
Ukraine disputed this. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Russia acted “aggressively” and “illegally used force against the ships of the Ukrainian Navy.” A Russian ship rammed into the tugboat, damaging it, the Ukrainian navy added.
A bilateral treaty grants both countries the right to use the Azov Sea.
Both nations called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. The European Union called on Russia to reopen the Kerch Strait and urged “all to act with utmost restraint to de-escalate the situation immediately.”
The two countries have been at loggerheads since a proMoscow government in Ukraine was toppled more than four years ago, touching off Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and the ongoing war in eastern Ukraine involving pro-Russian separatists.
Fighting between the rebels and Ukrainian troops has claimed more than 10,300 lives since 2014, and continued skirmishes result in near-daily casualties.