Ukraine Seizes Russian Tanker That It Says Blockaded a Disputed Strait

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MOSCOW — In a move likely to further ratchet up tensions between Moscow and Kiev, Ukraine seized a Russian tanker that it said was used during a naval confrontation last year to block passage through a disputed waterway linked to the Black Sea, Ukraine’s security service said on Thursday.

During the clash over the waterway, the Kerch Strait, Russia seized three small Ukrainian naval vessels. Eight months later, it still holds their crews prisoner, a sore point in relations between the countries.

The tanker taken by Ukraine was impounded after entering the port of Izmail in the Odessa region, the security agency, known as the S.B.U., announced in a statement on its Facebook page.

The Russian-flagged ship, now called the Nika Spirit, used to carry the name Neyma, the statement said. Under that name, the tanker blockaded the navigation route under the Kerch Bridge in November by anchoring across the channel, the statement said.

Ria Novosti, the state-run news agency, citing the Russian Embassy in Kiev, said that the Russian crew members had been released. Russian news reports gave varying accounts of its size, reporting that there were either seven or 15 crew members.

In Moscow, Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a belligerent statement saying that it was investigating the incident.

“We are looking into the circumstances of the incident before taking proper measures,” the Foreign Ministry said, according to the Russian news media. “If this amounts to taking Russians hostage, this will be qualified as a blatant violation of international law, and consequences will not be long in coming.”

The Kerch Strait passes between the Russian mainland and the Crimean peninsula, linking the Black Sea to the smaller Sea of Azov. In 2014, Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine, giving it control of both sides of the narrow strait — and the ability to bottle up Ukrainian ports — and then built a bridge across it.

Russia took the position that its permission was required to sail through the strait. Ukraine said its vessels had a right to make the passage unimpeded because the two nations share the Sea of Azov.

In November, Russian ships seized the Ukrainian vessels after firing on them and ramming one of them. The 24 crew members were jailed, including three who were wounded in the incident. President Trump cited the sailors’ detention when he canceled a meeting with Mr. Putin on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit meeting in Argentina last December.

There had been talk of a prisoner exchange involving the Ukrainian sailors in recent weeks, but none materialized.



Source : Nytimes