“No official documents received”: The Russian Consulate General asked Ukraine to explain the reasons for the arrest of the tanker Nika Spirit

The Consulate General of Russia in Odessa sent a note to the office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in Odessa with a request to clarify the situation regarding the arrest of the Russian tanker Nika Spirit, which was detained in the port of Izmail. It is reported by the press service of the Russian Embassy in Ukraine. It is noted that the embassy has not received official documents and there is no response to the request at the time of publication of the article.

“The Embassy continues to monitor the situation, in particular, is waiting for the publication of the full text of the definition, after which it will be possible to give an assessment to the arguments of the Ukrainian side,” the report says.

As the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Grigory Karasin added, for the Russian authorities the most important was the release of the crew - the sailors were released on July 26. According to him, after this, the current situation has shifted "to a slightly different area."

“The ship is privately owned, so the court must decide everything. We, of course, will closely monitor, but this is less dramatic ... We need to find out who owns it. And the private owner has the right to challenge the decision of the Ukrainian authorities in court, ”the diplomat said on the Kommersant FM radio station.

On Tuesday, July 30, the Chief Military Prosecutor of Ukraine Anatoly Matios in his Facebook reported on the arrest of the vessel Nika Spirit. As follows from the copy of the decision, even on the eve of the Primorsky District Court of Odessa authorized the arrest of property and documents seized during a search on board.

“According to the results of consideration of the relevant petition, the court seized the indicated vessel together with the documents seized during the search. We did it. Point! ”Wrote Matios on Facebook.

“It does not help to establish constructive relations between Moscow and Kiev”

According to Konstantin Kosachev, head of the committee of the Federation Council on international affairs, the evolving situation with Nika Spirit "deserves serious investigation."

“Here, let's say, not only and not so much a politician ... This situation should be left to professional study of lawyers. It is necessary to analyze this story with the greatest possible Russian participation, ”the senator explained in an interview with RT.

In turn, deputy chairman of the State Duma’s defense committee, Yury Shvytkin, noted that the actions of the Ukrainian authorities do not contribute to “establishing constructive relations between Moscow and Kiev”. The parliamentarian also added that this incident should not be left unanswered.

“Initially it was clear that the detention is provocative. This is a gross violation of the norms of international law by the Ukrainian authorities. For our part, it is necessary to apply the relevant provisions of criminal law, including the possible introduction of this issue to the UN Security Council, ”the source said.

Chronology of retention Nika Spirit

Recall that on Thursday, July 25, the SBU officers detained Nika Spirit in the port of Izmail, Odessa region of Ukraine, in connection with the fact that the vessel in November 2018 allegedly was used by the Russian FSB to create obstacles to the boats of the naval forces of Ukraine Berdyansk and Nikopol », As well as a military tug" Yany Kapu "during the illegal passage of the Kerch-Yenikalsky channel.

At that time, the tanker bore a different name - Neyma. According to the available data, the Marinetraffic portal, the vessel was renamed several times and previously also had the name Lenaneft 2070.

Meanwhile, Russia has repeatedly pointed out that this incident is a pre-planned armed provocation, since Ukrainian warships invaded the territorial waters of the Russian Federation. This was evidenced by the documents found on board the boats. At the moment, all participants in this incident - 24 military, including two employees of the SBU - are under arrest in Russia.

“Someone in Kiev wants a hard continuation of his own provocation of November 25. We will thoroughly understand what happened, ”said the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Grigory Karasin.

Meanwhile, the next day, July 26, the crew of the Nika Spirit, consisting of ten citizens of the Russian Federation, was released. According to the Commissioner for Human Rights, Tatiana Moskalkova, no procedural claims were filed against them.

At the same time, the Ruptly film crew was able to communicate with the sailors who were returning to their native Krasnodar region through Moldova. According to ship captain Ilya Drebyazka, law enforcement officials searched the ship with violations.

“Without coordinating with the consul ... a search was conducted, some documents were confiscated ... For me, this is somehow a bit strange,” he noted.

In turn, the senior mechanic tanker Sergey Karpov said that the SBU officers were looking for information about the previous name of the vessel. At the same time, the sailors themselves did not know about the old name of the tanker.