Last Sunday, two small Ukrainian artillery ships and a tugboat were prevented by Russian vessels from crossing the narrow Kerch Strait and reaching the Ukrainian port of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, which both countries share. The Ukrainian ships then turned back towards Odessa, but the Russian boats pursued them, fired upon and crippled two of the ships, before seizing all three vessels and 24 crew. Moscow says the Ukrainian ships ignored the normal procedure for crossing the Kerch Strait and so were treated as hostile craft. Ukraine introduced martial law in 10 border and maritime regions to tighten security and help them prepare for what Poroshenko calls the heightened threat of full-scale war with Russia. Mariupol sits on the Sea of Azov, a small, shallow body of water that is shared by Russia and Ukraine under a 2003 treaty.

Source: The Irish Times November 30, 2018 15:11 UTC