Contents tagged with Kerch Strait

  • Lavrov: Putin agreed to allow representatives of Germany and France to monitor the Kerch Strait

    Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s request to send German and French observers to the Kerch Strait, stated Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

    "Chancellor Angela Merkel asked the President to allow German specialists to come to the region of the Kerch Strait over a month ago and to see how the navigation is done, taking into account that safety regulations should be observed... and President Putin agreed immediately,” …

  • Russian court extends the arrest of all captive Ukrainian sailors for three months

    The Joint Group for Public Monitoring of the observance of the Constitutional freedoms of the Russian Federation reported on Twitter that the Moscow Lefortovo Court extended for three months the arrest of all 24 Ukrainian sailors captured near the Kerch Strait. It is noted that Judge Ryabtsev left Viktor Bespalchenko, Volodymyr Varymez, Vladyslav Kostyshyn and Volodymyr Lisovy in a pre-trial detention center until April 24. "The result. All but the wounded sailors remain in the remand prison …

  • Kyiv classifies the list of Russians who fell under new Ukrainian sanctions

    The Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons refused to disclose the list of citizens of the Russian Federation and the Russian companies that fell under Kyiv’s new sanctions, reported the Ukrayinska Pravda. 

    The ministry’s response to the official request of reporters stated that “the requested information is classified and is not subject to disclosure”. The document was signed by Serhiy Mokrenyuk, Head of Department for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea …

  • Ukraine files application to the European Court of Human Rights regarding capture and detention of Ukrainian sailors by Russia

    The Deputy Minister of Justice and Commissioner for European Court of Human Rights Affairs, Ivan Lishchyna stated that Ukraine asked the European Court of Human Rights to recognize Russia’s violation of the rights of the 24 Ukrainian sailors held captive in Russia.

    “The Government of Ukraine has fulfilled the court’s instructions and filed a full-fledged application for case №55855/18 on January 7th, 2019. The government demands that the court recognize the violation by the Russian Federation …

  • Kremlin: Russia monitors actions of US Navy ship in Black Sea

    The patrol ship from  the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Pytlivy, monitors the actions of USS Fort McHenry, a large landing ship of the US Navy, which carries out exercises in the Black Sea, reported RIA Novosti with reference to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

    As stated by the ministry, the American ship has been in the Black Sea since 9:00 pm Moscow time, January 6.

    The press service of the U.S. 6th Fleet announced that the ship would “conduct operations with its allies to ensure security and …

  • Ukrainian President: We will not let Russia run the show in Sea of Azov

    Russia will not decide how the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait are to be used, because Ukraine will not allow this, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told CNN Turk in an interview.

    According to the president’s press service, he clarified that all available legal mechanisms would be used to ensure this.

    “We will never recognize the occupation of the Sea of Azov, which Russia is trying to do now. We will never recognize the occupation of the Kerch Strait. And we insist on international law, …

  • Russian military fired 1200 rounds when capturing Ukrainian ships in Kerch Strait

    Russian attorney Ilya Novikov told Echo of Moscow in an interview that, during their aggression against the Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait, the Russians fired nearly 1200 rounds from a large-caliber gun.

    Novikov says he received the information from his client, the Ukrainian sailor captured by Russia, Roman Mokryak.

    “Russia is trying to present the situation as ‘We saw that they were violating the border, and we had to stop it.’ The Russians don’t deny that they understand who was before …

  • Macron and Putin discuss Kerch Strait incident

    French President Emmanuel Macron and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in Ukraine and the Kerch crisis in a phone call, the official Kremlin website reports. 

    Putin told the press service that he and Macron had continued the “exchange of opinions” on the topic, but did not provide any further details on the discussion. 

    The two presidents also considered the problems of the Syrian situation in detail. 

    According to a communique from the Élysée Palace, Macron …

  • All Ukrainian sailors captured by Russia declare themselves as prisoners of war

    Lawyer Mykola Polozov stated that all Ukrainian sailors captured near the Kerch Strait by Russia  said that they are prisoners of war. 

    “As of 12/27/2018 all 24 Ukrainian sailors stated to the investigation that they are prisoners of war,” wrote Polozov on his Facebook page. 

    According to him, the injured sailors Andriy Eider and Andriy Artemenko declared their status as prisoners of war to the investigation on Thursday. 

    On the morning of November 25, Ukraine informed the Russian port of …

  • Kyiv: Ukraine is ready to deploy troops in case of Russia's direct aggression

    The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Victor Muzhenko stated on Facebook that if there is a threat of a direct invasion by Russia, the General Staff can deploy Joint Forces.   "Today, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) reported to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, preliminary conclusions of the martial law. Firstly, the General Staff can deploy Joint Forces units if there  …