Russia ‘rams, fires on and seizes ships from Ukraine’
tENSIoNS between Russia and Ukraine escalated dramatically last night with an armed skirmish on the Black Sea.
Russian ships were reported to have seized three Ukrainian navy vessels after firing on them, ramming a tug boat, and injuring several sailors.
Russia had earlier prevented the three boats from entering the Sea of Azov via the strategically important Kerch Strait by placing a massive cargo ship beneath a newly built Russian controlled bridge.
the Russian vessels then opened fire, officials in Kiev claimed.
carl Bildt, co-chairman of the European council on Foreign Relations, described the blockade as a ‘clear breach of international law’.
Four years ago Moscow annexed the crimea from Ukraine, sparking international outrage. Vladimir Yelchenko, Ukraine’s permanent representative to the United Nations, last night said the country would ‘immediately appeal’ to the UN Security council.
‘the defiant behaviour of an aggressor can be stopped only by joint coordinated efforts,’ he said.
A statement from the Ukrainian navy said: ‘According to the operational information, small armoured artillery boats Berdyansk and Nikopol were struck by the enemy’s fire and lost their course. [the ships were] seized by Russian special forces.’
the navy later said six sailors had been hurt. A third Ukrainian boat – the Yana Kapu tug – was rammed and also seized, according to reports. Since annexing the crimea, Moscow has built the £3billion Kerch Bridge across the Strait, tightening its grip on the territory and making it easier to hold up maritime traffic in the area.
Ukraine is an ally of Britain and only last week Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson pledged to support ‘Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity’.
In recognition of the regional tensions, he had said the survey vessel HMS Echo would be dispatched to the Black Sea next year. A spokesman for Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko said he was convening an emergency meeting of the military’s top brass.
Earlier the Russian coastguard accused the three Ukrainian navy ships of making what it called an unauthorised crossing through ‘Russian territorial waters’.
Although a 2003 treaty designates the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov as shared territorial waters, Russia has been asserting greater control over the passage since 2014.
Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB, was cited as saying it had acted because the Ukrainian vessels had illegally entered its territorial waters, ignored warnings to stop, and manoeuvred dangerously.
An EU statement urged Russia to ‘restore freedom of passage’ through the Kerch Strait.