Kiev on Sunday accused Moscow of seizing three Ukrainian military ships in the Kerch Strait after firing at them, citing two wounded on the Ukrainian side.
The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko "denounced an aggressive act of Russia aimed at premeditated escalation" in this area and convened in the evening his military cabinet. "Russian special forces have seized" these three ships, said in a statement the command of the Ukrainian naval forces, citing "reports that two Ukrainian sailors are wounded . "
Earlier in the evening, the Ukrainian navy had accused Russia of firing on these ships attempting to enter the Black Sea from the Kerch Strait, separating the Crimea from Russia and marking access to the sea. Azov. "The Berdiansk and Nikopol artillery armored stars have been hit by enemy fire and can no longer sail. The tug Iany Kapu was forced to stop, " the Ukrainian navy added in a statement.
Tensions rise around the Azov Sea
Tensions around the Sea of Azov surged on Sunday as Ukraine accused Russia of having struck a Ukrainian ship and blocked access to the small sea between Crimea and the east of the country. Ukraine, theater of a war with the pro-Russian separatists.
According to the Ukrainian Navy, Russian border guards on Sunday hit one of its Black Sea tugs off the Crimea, annexed in 2014 by Moscow, as part of "overtly aggressive actions against Ukrainian ships" , before the prevent crossing the Kerch Strait to access the Sea of Azov.