Fears of martial law flare-up as Russia puts Ukrainians on TV
● Kremlin critical of Ukraine decision ● Germany offers to mediate talks
The Kremlin warned that Ukraine’s declaration of martial law over Russia’s seizure of three Ukrainian ships might trigger a flareup in hostilities in eastern Ukraine.
Kiev separately blamed Russia for parading captured Ukrainian seamen on TV.
The Ukrainian parliament on Monday adopted a motion by the president to impose martial law for 30 days after Sunday’s clash between the two rivals in the Kerch Strait, which links the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
That is something Ukraine avoided doing even when Russia annexed its nearby Crimean peninsula in 2014 or sent in clandestine troops and weapons to insurgents in wartorn eastern Ukraine.
On Sunday near the Cri mea, Russian border guards rammed into and opened fire on three Ukrainian navy vessels travelling from the Black Sea toward a Ukrainian port. The Russians seized the ships and their crews. A court in the Crimean capital of Simferopol yesterday ordered one of the Ukrainian seamen to be kept behind bars until 26 January.
The Kremlin reacted strongly to Ukraine’s declaration of martial law, with Russian president Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying it might trigger a flareup in hostilities in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian troops have been fighting Russianbacked separatists in eastern Ukraine since 2014 – a conflict that has left more than 10,000 dead, but fighting has eased since a truce in 2015.
The martial law takes effect today in several parts of Ukraine, including areas bordering territory now held by the separatists.
The Russian intelligence agency FSB claimed the ships had Ukrainian SBU intelligence agents on board with a mission to mount what they called “provocation” in the Kerch Strait.
The SBU confirmed the presence of its officers on the ships, but denied any bad intentions, saying they were simply fulfilling counterintelligence operations for the Ukrainian navy.
The SBU also demanded Russia stop using “psychological and physical pressure” on the Ukrainians – an apparent reference to the interviews of the crew members that Russia released late on Monday. The video broadcast by state television showed three sepa rate interviews with Ukrainian seamen, all of whom agreed with Russian claims that they violated its border.
It was not known if the men were talking under duress or had been subject to violence. One of them was clearly reading from a teleprompter.
A Crimean court ordered one of the captured Ukrainian seamen be held in custody for the next two months.
Ukraine said its vessels were heading to the Sea of Azov in line with international maritime rules. Russia charged that they had failed to obtain permission to pass through the narrow Kerch Strait, which is spanned by a new bridge that Russia completed this year. The bridge is the only land border from the Russian mainland to the annexed peninsula of Crimea.
Estonian president Kersti Kaljulaid said a Russian attack on Ukrainian military vessels constituted “war in Europe”.
Mr Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke on the phone early yesterday. The Russian president expressed a “serious concern” about what the martial law in Ukraine might entail.
Russia was heavily criticised on Monday at the United Nations by the US and other western nations for seizing the Ukrainian ships.
German foreign minister Heiko Maas said Berlin had “called on Russia and Ukraine to show the greatest possible restraint”. He suggested Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine could work together to resolve the tensions.
However, Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov has rejected foreign mediation.