Moscow’s court extends arrest of four more Ukrainian sailors

The Lefortovsky District Court in Moscow has extended the arrest of four more Ukrainian sailors, who were captured in the Kerch Strait, until April 24.

“The court has extended arrest of four more sailors. The hearings on another 12 detained sailors will be held today as well,” mbk-news reports.

Earlier, on January 15, the Lefortovsky District Court in Moscow extended the arrest of eight Ukrainian sailors until April 24. The court examines the cases of Ukrainian sailors in groups of four.

The lawyers of Ukrainian sailors filed a motion to change the jurisdiction to a military court, but the court denied the motion.

On November 25, 2018, Russian border ships fired on and seized in the Kerch Strait three Ukrainian vessels that were moving from the port of Odesa to the port of Mariupol. A total of 24 Ukrainian sailors were captured.

Russian-controlled "courts" in occupied Crimea arrested all sailors for two months, and they were taken to Moscow.

Twenty-one Ukrainian servicemen are held in Moscow's Lefortovo remand prison, and three more wounded sailors stay in the Matrosskaya Tishina remand prison.

The coordinator of the team of lawyers, Nikolai Polozov, said that all Ukrainian sailors captured by Russia told investigators that they are prisoners of war.