Whole of Ukraine waiting for release of sailors from Russian captivity - Poroshenko

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has received a gift from the mother of Roman Mokriak, the commander of the Berdiansk armored artillery boat seized by Russia, and assured that Ukraine and international partners are doing everything possible for the speedy return home of captured Ukrainian sailors.

He wrote this on his Facebook page.

"It is extremely touching to get a gift that was prepared and handed over to me by the mother of Roman Mokriak, the commander of the Berdiansk armored boat seized by Russia. I assure you that together with our international partners, we are doing our best so that our prisoners of war could return home as quickly as possible," Poroshenko said.

The head of state stressed that not only relatives, parents and wives, children, but also the whole of Ukraine are waiting for the return of the heroes.

As reported, on November 25, Russian border ships committed aggressive actions against Ukrainian vessels that were en route from the port of Odesa to the port of Mariupol. They fired on and seized three Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait and captured 24 Ukrainian sailors.

On November 26, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the law approving a presidential decree on the introduction of martial law for 30 days in ten regions of Ukraine along the border with Russia and the Ukrainian-Moldovan border along the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, as well as inland waters of the Azov-Kerch water area.

According to the presidential decree, the legal regime of martial law was introduced from 14:00 on November 26, 2018 for a period of 30 days until 14:00 on December 26, 2018.

Ukraine insists on the introduction of new international sanctions against Russia in connection with its aggression in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.