The first reports on the handover of the Ukrainian vessels surfaced on 16 November. The Russian online newspaper Kommersant, citing unnamed sources, reported on Moscow’s decision to return the ships. An aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the report.
On 17 November, the press service of the Crimean office of Russian FSB’s border service informed Russian media that three Ukrainian vessels would be returned to Ukraine the following day. Yet, it was another 24 hours before Ukrainian officials and the navy command were able to officially confirm the event.
“Today, on November 18, the process of the return of Ukrainian [artillery] boats, the Nikopol, the Berdiansk, and the Yany Kapu tugboat has started in the Black Sea. Ukrainian tugboats the Titan, the Haydamaky, and the Sapfir search and rescue ship, along with the boats and the tugboat have started moving toward mainland Ukraine,” the Ukrainian Navy posted on Facebook.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said that the handover of the vessels does not end the dispute on Russia’s violation of the immunity of the Ukrainian Navy ships and their crews.
“After a thorough check-up and examination, it will be clear in what condition the warships were handed over, and whether any equipment and documentation were confiscated from them,” MFA says.
How Russia seized the vessels
Last year, on 25 November 2018, the Ukrainian Navy sent the Yany Kapu tugboat, escorted by two artillery boats, the Berdiansk and the Nikopol, from Odesa to round the Russia-occupied Crimean peninsula and proceed through the Kerch Strait to Mariupol. This was the same route as the Ukrainian Navy ships, Donbas and Korets, had followed to the same destination two months earlier, in September 2018.
Read more: Ukrainian warships break Russian defacto blockade in Azov Sea to create naval base
However, this time Russian border guards and military attacked the Ukrainian vessels. The Russian border guard ship Don rammed into the Yany Kapu tugboat, damaging its main engine, hull, and guard railing:
Russia went on to block sea traffic at the Kerch Bridge. They deployed several more seacrafts, as well as K-52 combat helicopters and Su-25 fighter jets.
After the blockage, Ukrainian ships tried to return to Odesa, but shortly after they crossed the 12-nautical-mile baseline and reached neutral waters, Russian ships opened fire on the Ukrainian seacrafts, wounding several sailors. Following the live-fire attack, two of the vessels, the Yany Kapu tugboat and the Berdiansk artillery boat, lost engines and were seized by Russian special forces. They were towed by Russian tugboats. The third seacraft, Nikopol, was surrounded by Russian ships and forced to follow their course.
Read more:
- Russian attack on Ukrainian ships near Kerch Strait – full chronology
- Russian military leadership ordered escalation in Black Sea, Ukrainian army intercepts show
Court ruling and Russia’s denial
In May 2019, the UN maritime tribunal (ITLOS) ruled that Russia must “immediately” release 24 Ukrainian service members and three Ukrainian vessels, giving Russia one month to implement the ruling. Russian President Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed that the case of the 24 Ukrainians did not fall under the jurisdiction of the tribunal. Russia refused to recognize the Ukrainian sailors as prisoners of war. Moreover, they rejected the tribunal’s order and tried the Ukrainians under criminal charges for alleged border violations.
In September 2019, Russia returned the Ukrainian sailors as part of the 35-for-35 prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine. No reason was given when Russia then took several more weeks to return the captured vessels. Albeit, in doing so they fulfilled the second part of the ITLOS ruling.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin denies that the return is related to the UN court’s ruling last May. Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov explicitly stated: “This [handover of the ships] isn’t connected in any way with the international tribunal’s [decision]. There isn’t any connection and it cannot be.”
Russia stands behind the narrative that freeing the sailors in September and now handing over the hijacked vessels are not because of a UN tribunal ruling — rather a grand gesture of goodwill.
Hiding evidence: Firearm damage removed
On 17 November, the Russian Defense Ministry TV channel Zvezda broadcast footage showing the Ukrainian ships being tugged out of the Kerch Bay:
The damage caused by the ramming of the Yany Kapu is clearly visible. Meanwhile, holes in the hull of the Berdiansk caused by the live-fire assault appear to have been removed — black rectangles can be seen disguising the ruptures:
Normandy Four negotiations
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has claimed that the handover of the seized Ukrainian ships is not related to the 9 December Normandy Four summit, for which Russia has confirmed participation. The summit is intended for leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France to negotiate issues related to the war in the Donbas — ongoing since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2014. The last Normandy Four meeting was held in Berlin in October 2016.
Since Russia keeps laying down additional demands of Ukraine before the summit can be held, the negotiations may be postponed yet again. For example, on 4 November, Russia demanded Ukraine agree that the summit’s outcome document will be available in advance.
Other delays are in the offing. Russia now claims they want full military disengagement in the Donbas — an intention voiced previously by Zelenskyy, now prior to the summit, parroted by Putin. Yet, when discussions on withdrawal took place earlier this year, Putin would not comply. Zelenskyy is steadfast that troops be withdrawn, with Russian forces doing the same, to stop military actions and casualties. Putin has now positioned himself as the one to insist on disengagement.
Read also:
- An unequal exchange: the spies and terrorists Russia got for releasing Oleg Sentsov and 34 other Ukrainian political prisoners & POWs
- 35 Ukrainian hostages of the Kremlin, including Oleg Sentsov, finally home. 86 still remain (UPDATING)
- How recent PACE resolution invoking Geneva convention will help free Ukrainian sailors captured by Russia
- Sailors captured by Russia are POWs, Russia violates Geneva Convention, say Ukrainian officials
- Ukrainian prosecutors publish reconstruction of Russian attack on Ukrainian ships in Black Sea
- Condemnation and “concerns”: world reaction to Russia’s attack on Ukrainian ships
- Kerch incident proves Ukraine & NATO “prepare for war against Russia” – Russian propaganda in Czech & Hungarian media
- Russian wave of disinformation from the Azov Sea
- Russian fighter jet blasted Ukrainian ships with unguided missiles in Azov Sea, SBU claims
- FSB tries to explain attack on Ukrainian ships, proves Russia broke its own laws
- Russia takes 24 prisoners of war after attacking Ukrainian ships in Azov, televises “confessions”
- Putin will attempt to divert attention from Russia’s attack on Ukraine in Kerch Strait, Polyakov says
- Russian military leadership ordered escalation in Black Sea, Ukrainian army intercepts show
- Russian attack on Ukrainian ships near Kerch Strait – full chronology
- Russia attacks Ukrainian ships near Kerch strait – video, audio intercepts
- Russian aggression in the Azov Sea has been ongoing since May 2018
- Moscow has closed the Kerch Straits to Ukrainian shipping, Kyiv expert says
- Russia prepared to occupy Crimea back in 2010
- Ukrainian warships break Russian de-facto blockade in Azov Sea to create naval base
Edited by Vidan Clube
