Statements by three captured Ukrainians have been released by Russia’s internal security service after Russian ships opened fire and seized three Ukrainian boats off the coast of Crimea.
One of the men, Vladimir Lesovoy, said he was aware of the “provocative nature” of the Ukrainian action. Ukraine’s navy commander said the men were forced to tell lies under duress. Western nations have condemned Russia’s use of force, four years after it annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula.
The flare-up is the first outright clash between Ukraine and Russian forces for years, although pro-Russian separatists and Russian “volunteers” have been fighting Ukraine’s army in two eastern regions. Tensions escalated when Russia opened a bridge this year between Russia and Crimea over the Kerch Strait, which leads into the Sea of Azov. Ukraine has two big ports on the northern shore of the Azov sea, and a 2003 treaty allows both countries free access to its waters.
Russia has accused the two Ukrainian gunboats and a tug of violating Russian territorial waters as they sailed through the Kerch Strait. But Ukraine says the incidents happened in areas that are free for shipping.
Mr Poroshenko warned the threat of a Russian land invasion was “extremely serious”.
Five of the 10 regions border Russia while two are adjacent to Moldova’s breakaway Trans-Dniester region, where Russian troops are stationed. The other three regions border the Black Sea or Sea of Azov close to Crimea.
Since April 2014, Ukraine’s army has been fighting pro-Russian separatists in two eastern regions of Ukraine bordering Russia, Luhansk and Donetsk.
The move to martial law is unprecedented in Ukraine, and gives military authorities the right to ban protests and strikes. Mobilisation of civilians for military service is possible but not inevitable.
Twenty-three Ukrainian sailors were captured by Russia on Sunday and at least three were wounded. Ukraine’s human rights commissioner, Lyudmila Denisova, said the sailors were due to appear in court in the Crimean town of Simferopol on Tuesday.
The head of the Ukrainian navy, Ihor Voronchenko, told Ukrainian TV that the three men had given false statements under duress. “I know those sailors from Nikopol. They have always been honest professionals in their jobs, and what they say now is not true,” he said.
The head of Ukraine’s SBU security service, Vasyl Hrytsak, confirmed Russian reports that members of the service were on board the boats, but added that it was a “routine counter-intelligence mission” of a type that the Russian navy carried out regularly too.
Credit: BBC
