1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Conflicts

Crimean court orders detention of Ukrainian sailors

November 27, 2018

A Crimean court has ordered that several Ukrainian sailors be detained for two months pending trial after a flare-up with Russia’s coastguard. They face charges that could eventually carry a 6-year jail sentence.

Outside Simferopol's Kiyevsky District Court ahead of a hearing into the case of servicemen from Ukrainian Navy vessels detained by the Russian Federal Security Service for violating the Russian border in the Kerch Strait
Image: picture alliance/dpa/TASS/A. Pavlishak

A court in the Russian-annexed Crimea region on Tuesday ordered that several Ukrainian sailors be remanded for two months, pending trial, after their naval confrontation with Russian forces.

The detained individuals, who were among more than 20 naval personnel taken into custody on Sunday, are to be held until at least January 25. Several other sailors were expected to appear before the court in the city of Simferopol on Wednesday.

While Kyiv says Russia is holding 23 sailors, Moscow puts the number at 24. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said he had asked the Red Cross to visit the group.

Russian state television featured interviews with three of the men on Tuesday. In this footage, sailors agreed with Russian claims they had violated an international border — charges that can carry a jail sentence of 6 years.

Trading the blame

Although it was not immediately clear if they had spoken under duress, Ukraine's SBU intelligence agency demanded that Russia stop using "psychological and physical pressure" against the men.

Read more: What you need to know about the Sea of Azov conflict

Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for the clash in the Kerch Strait, which links the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov — a body of water containing both Russian and Ukrainian ports. Since the annexation of Crimea by Moscow in 2014, a bridge has been built across the strait, connecting the Crimean peninsula with Russia.

Crimea: The German perspective

06:03

This browser does not support the video element.

Russian maritime border guards on Sunday opened fire on three Ukrainian naval vessels sailing from the Black Sea port of Odessa to Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov. Ukraine alleges that a Russian ship also rammed one of its boats.

Differing stories

Russia then seized the vessels and the crew members, claiming they had entered Russian territorial waters without permission. Ukrainian authorities said they had given advance notice to Russia that the boats would be moving through the strait. 

The Kremlin on Tuesday warned that Ukraine's declaration of martial law in border and coastal areas could lead to a flare-up of hostilities in the country's conflict-ridden eastern provinces.

Members of the Kyiv parliament on Monday adopted a motion that allowed President Petro Poroshenko to declare martial law for 30 days.

Germany has offered to mediate between Russia and Ukraine.

The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin did not plan to speak to his Ukrainian counterpart about the incident. Russia has claimed the confrontation was engineered by Poroshenko as a ploy to delay Ukraine's March presidential election, with polls putting the incumbent well adrift of the leading candidates.

rc/msh (AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.

Skip next section Explore more
Skip next section DW's Top Story

DW's Top Story

Skip next section More stories from DW