Ukrainians ape Western bosses' gunboat diplomacy, seize Russian tanker - UPDATE: Crew released

RT
Thu, 25 Jul 2019 12:22 UTC

© RIA Novosti / Vitaly Timkiv

Ukraine's security service has seized a Russia-registered oil tanker that allegedly blocked maritime traffic in the Kerch Strait. It comes as both countries discuss the release of Ukrainian sailors detained in the area last year.

The Russian-flagged ship 'Nika Spirit' was detained by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the military prosecutors after it moored at the port of Izmail in southwestern Ukraine, according to the agency's statement. Ukrainian authorities have searched the vessel, seized her logs and communications records, as well as interviewed the crew.

SBU maintains that the tanker in question had blocked the passage of Ukrainian Navy ships through the Black Sea's Kerch Strait in November last year. Citing international maritime codes, the service said that she was allegedly called 'Neyma' at the time.

It is unclear what will happen to the ship and her crew, although SBU said it will seek an arrest order for the vessel. But the timing is particularly notable as the detention came amid low-key talks about the release of 24 Ukrainian sailors currently imprisoned in Russia.

Comment: This provocation is intended, obviously, to prevent their release and thus prevent rapprochement between the two countries.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian media cited Kiev's ombudsman, Lyudmila Denisova, who said that an agreement to return the sailors home has finally been reached. Later in the day, she refuted these reports, telling Russia's RBC newspaper that she only asked the FSB - the security agency in charge of trial - to release them under a bail scheme, and that talks are in progress.

All of them were manning fast attack crafts 'Nikopol' and 'Berdyansk', as well as the tug boat 'Yany Kapu', which tried to sail through the Strait and reach the Sea of Azov. The ships were stopped by the Russian coast guard and their crews were detained over the violation of maritime borders.

Later, Moscow accused Kiev of inflicting a provocation and revealed that the sailors have consciously ignored orders to change course, leaving the coast guard with no choice but to fire warning shots and ram the intruding vessels.

Ukraine, in turn, denied that its ships had violated Russia's border and insisted their crews' actions were lawful. Then-president Petro Poroshenko called the seizure of the ships "an act of aggression" and demanded that Moscow immediately release of the sailors.

Comment: When asked for further comment, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated: "Ooh-ooh, aah-aah, *grunt-grunt*..."

Here's video they published of the seizure:

UPDATE 28/07/2019: Russia slams Ukraine's 'act of piracy'. While the crew was released, Ukraine continues to hold the tanker itself.

Ukraine "should think of the consequences" after its security service (SBU) detained the Russian-flagged tanker Nika Spirit (also known as 'Neyma'), the Russian foreign ministry told media on Thursday.

However, if Russian nationals "were taken hostage" by Ukraine, "it would amount to a grave violation of international law, and ramifications will follow shortly," it added.

Several hours later the Russian embassy in Ukraine announced that "the crew is heading home, while the vessel remains in Izmail," a port city in southwestern Ukraine. The Russian Foreign Ministry then said that ten sailors from the Neyma had safely left Ukrainian territory.

The SBU explained the release by saying that the Russian sailors "didn't violate maritime law or Ukrainian legislation, therefore there were no grounds for their detention."

Meanwhile, senior Russian lawmakers labeled the incident "an act of piracy" and accused the outgoing Kiev government of staging "a provocation." Konstantin Zatulin, a high-ranking member of the State Duma's committee in charge of post-Soviet states, told the media the detention will damage already-strained relations between Moscow and Kiev.

By doing what it has done, Ukraine will be "nowhere close" to achieving the release of 24 sailors currently on trial in Russia for an alleged violation of maritime borders during last year's Kerch Strait incident.