Russia Returns Three Captured Ukrainian Ships
The Ukrainian Naval Forces have confirmed that the Ukrainian ships that were captured in the Kerch Strait near Crimea in November 2018 have now been returned by Russia.
The Ukrainian Naval Forces have confirmed that the Ukrainian ships that were captured in the Kerch Strait near Crimea in November 2018 have now been returned by Russia.
“On November 18, the process of returning Ukrainian boats "Nikopol", "Berdyansk" and the tugboat "Yany Kapu" has begun in the Black Sea. At present, the Ukrainian tugboats "Tytan", "Haydamaky" and the search and rescue vessel "Sapfir", together with the boats and the tugboat, have started moving towards mainland Ukraine,” the statement reads.
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it had handed over the three detained ships to Ukraine.
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea obliged Moscow to return the captured 24 Ukrainian sailors and immediately release the ships to Ukraine on May 25, 2019.
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The captured sailors returned to Ukraine on September 7 as part of the 35-for-35 exchange between Ukraine and Russia.
In a comment to Hromadske, the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kateryna Zelenko said that Russia ought to pay Ukraine compensation for the capture and detention of the sailors and ships in the Kerch Strait in November 2018.