Crimean court arrests all captured Ukrainian sailors for two months

The Russian-controlled district court of Simferopol city in Crimea arrested 24 Ukrainian sailors, who had been captured by Russian FSB in the Kerch Strait, for two months.

"The Kyivsky district court of Simferopol arrested all Ukrainian sailors, who had been detained by Russian border guards, including captain 2nd rank of the Berdiansk boat Denys Hrytsenko and captain of the Yany Kapu tug boat Oleh Melnychuk, until January 25, 2019," journalist Anton Naumliuk posted on Facebook on November 28.

As reported, on November 25, Russian border vessels committed aggressive actions against three Ukrainian ships that set sail from the port of Odesa to the port of Mariupol in the Azov Sea. After that, Russian special forces opened fire on the Ukrainian tugboat Yany Kapu, small armored artillery boats Berdiansk and Nikopol in the Kerch Strait and seized them. There were 24 sailors aboard. First Vice Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Iryna Gerashchenko informed on November 27 that, according to the updated data, four detainees were wounded, one of them in a grave condition.

Russia announced its intention to try detained Ukrainian sailors for allegedly illegal crossing of the Russian state border.

ol