Russia's provocative actions in Black and Azov Seas have crossed the line - MFA

Russia's provocative actions in Black and Azov Seas have crossed the line - MFA

Ukrinform
Russia's provocations in the Black and Azov Seas have crossed the line and have already become aggressive, Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said in an official statement regarding Sunday's incident in the Sea of Azov.

"Ships of the Russian Federation, in violation of free navigation, have unlawfully used force in relation to ships of the Ukrainian Navy. We regard such aggressive actions as a violation of the clauses of the UN Charter, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea," the statement reads.

The ministry stressed that all appropriate measures of diplomatic and international legal response would be taken. The ministry will also immediately inform partners about Russia's aggressive actions in the Azov Sea.

"Such actions pose a threat to the security of all states of the Black Sea region, and therefore require a clear reaction of the international community," the ministry said.

At the same time, Russia's FSB said there was a "deliberate provocation" from the Ukrainian side. The statement by the FSB's press service spread by Russian media says that Ukrainian warships "crossed the state border of the Russian Federation, illegally entered the temporarily closed water area of the Russian Federation," "carrying out dangerous maneuvers and not obeying the legitimate demands of the Russian authorities."

According to the command of the Ukrainian Navy, at 13.12, two Ka-52 attack helicopters of the Russian Armed Forces were spotted as heading for an attack course with their onboard weapon control systems targeted at Ukrainian Navy boats.

Earlier, the command of the Ukrainian Navy said that on November 25, Russian border ships carried out openly aggressive actions against two Ukrainian small armored artillery boats Berdiansk and Nikopol and the Yana Kapu tugboat, which carried out a planned journey from the port of Odesa to the port of Mariupol in the Sea of Azov, and the Russian side was informed about the journey in advance. According to the command, the Russian ship Don rammed a Ukrainian tugboat, damaging the ship's main engine, shell plating and guard railing, and its life raft was lost.

Such actions of the Russian military contradict the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Ukrainian-Russian treaty on cooperation in the use of the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait, the command said.

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