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Black Sea stand-off: Ukraine navy accuses Russian ship of ramming tugboat off Crimea

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 25 November, 2018, 11:06pm 
Russia Ukraine
 United States & Canada
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14 Dec 2018 

Ukraine’s navy has accused Russia’s border guards of ramming one of its tugboats in the Black Sea off Moscow-annexed Crimea on Sunday in “openly aggressive actions”.

Ukraine said the incident took place as three of its ships including two small warships were heading for the port of Mariupol in the Sea of Azov, an area of heightened tensions between the countries.

Russia accused Kiev of illegally entering its waters and deliberately provoking a conflict.

Russia claims the waters off Crimea after annexing the peninsula in 2014. A Russian border guard ship, the Don, “rammed into our tugboat”, the Ukrainian navy said, adding that this caused damage to its engine, outer shell and crash barrier.

Russia’s ships “carried out openly aggressive actions against Ukrainian naval ships”, it said, adding

the ships continued on their way “despite Russia’s counteraction”.

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Ukraine said it gave Russia advance warning of its ships’ route and its ships are obliged to take this route to reach the Sea of Azov. The latest incident came after the Ukrainian navy in September complained of “acts of provocation” by Russian border guards against its ships taking the same route.

Ukraine has increased the number of navy ships and border guard patrols in the Sea of Azov, which is reached via the Kerch Strait between Crimea and Russia.

Kiev says its naval build-up is due to Russia stepping up patrols in the area and carrying out lengthy checks on commercial shipping.
 

15 Dec 2018 - 6:30am 12