The International Maritime Tribunal on Saturday (May 25th) ordered the Russian authorities to release the 24 Ukrainian sailors detained since the arrest of three Ukrainian vessels last autumn in the Kerch Strait, which separates the southern Crimea from Russia.
Judging this maritime incident on 25 November, the Hamburg-based court ruled that Moscow must immediately release the sailors and return the three boarded military ships to Ukraine.
It also calls on "Ukraine and the Russian Federation to refrain from any action that might aggravate or extend the dispute".
The Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that the Hamburg Court, born from the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which Russia and Ukraine sign, did not have the competence to examine the incident. from Kerch. He adds that the Russian side was not involved in the examination of the file.
"The court ruling sends a clear signal that Russia can not violate international law with impunity," said Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Olena Zerkal.
With Reuters