Ukraine allowed sailors from Russian tanker Neyma to return home - SBU

"Today investigators of the Security Service of Ukraine and the military prosecutor's office detained the Russian tanker Neyma that blocked Ukrainian warships in the Kerch Strait in 2018. It was established during the investigation that the crew of the tanker on board did not violate the norms of maritime law and the laws of Ukraine, so there were no grounds for their detention," the report said.

It notes that respecting Ukrainian laws, without violating the rights and freedoms of Russian sailors, they were allowed to return home to their families.

The SBU said that Ukraine is a rule-of-law state that faithfully abides by the norms of international maritime law and the decisions of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

The Russian tanker Nika Spirit entered the Ukrainian port of Izmail on July 24, 2019. According to the Equasis international information system, the vessel was identified as a well-known tanker Neyma that was used to block the Kerch Strait in November 2018. Such unlawful actions contributed to the violent, with the use of weapons, stoppage and capture by Russian FSB border guards of three Ukrainian warships and their 24 crew members.

On Thursday, July 25, the SBU, together with the Military Prosecutor's Office, detained the tanker Neyma. The investigation established that Russian owners had renamed the tanker Neyma to Nika Spirit in order to conceal their involvement in unlawful acts and an act of aggression that occurred on November 25, 2018.

Russian media reported that the Neyma tanker, detained by Ukraine, had a crew of about 15 Russian citizens.

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