Contents tagged with Kerch Strait

  • Ukraine at EU Parliament: Russia setting stage to attack Ukraine by sea

    Russia’s actions in the Kerch Strait and the Azov Sea are designed to “kill the economy of Ukraine’s Azov coast and set the military stage for attacking Ukraine from the sea,” said Oleksii Makeiev, director of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s political department, during a special joint session of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Subcommittee on Security and Defense in Strasbourg.

    At the special session on the 5th anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and …

  • Austrian Foreign Minister urges Russia to release Ukrainian sailors

    During a joint press conference with the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl urged the Russian authorities to release the captured Ukrainian military sailors, as well as other illegally detained Ukrainian citizens, in particular, director Oleh Sentsov and activist Vladimir Balukh, reports Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform.

    “Austria regrets the military escalation in the Kerch Strait on November 25th. In connection with this, we …

  • US urges Russia to put an end to violence in eastern Ukraine

    Speaking at a session of the OSCE Permanent Council on March 7, Acting Deputy Chief of the US Mission to the OSCE Gregory Macris said that for five years Russia has been destabilizing Ukraine through its “manufactured conflict” in the country’s east, and breaching its obligations according to the Minsk Agreements, which constitute the roadmap to peace.

    According to Macris, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) has been observing numerous violations of the Minsk Agreements, and most of them …

  • EU approves sanctions against eight Russians over Kerch Strait incidents

    Radio Liberty’s European journalist Rikard Jozwiak wrote on Twitter that permanent representatives of the EU countries approved sanctions against eight Russian citizens because of the Kerch Strait incidents that occurred in late November. TASS and RIA Novosti also confirmed the news, citing diplomatic sources.

    Jozwiak wrote, “EU ambassadors have agreed sanctions on 8 people from Russia responsible for detaining the 24 servicemen from Ukraine after the Azov Sea incident in November will be …

  • Ukrainian President: EU will allocate 50 million euros to maintain Azov coast security

    President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, announced during the Regional Development Council in Odessa that the European Union’s special project to support the Azov coast security in the face of Russian aggression foresees allocation of 50 million euros to Ukraine, reports Ukrinform.

    “A special 50 million euros project is directed to the Azov coast to support Mariupol and Berdyansk, as well as the Black Sea coast. This, unfortunately, is due to the Russian aggression in the neutral waters of the …

  • Volker: Our perception of Russia is completely different than 5 years ago

    US State Department Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker told Voice of America in an interview that the US has already worked out a system to respond to challenges from Russia.

    Five years ago, when the “green men” captured Crimea, the West reacted too slowly, Volker admitted while speaking at an international forum in Kyiv. Today, the situation has changed, and if there is escalation, the West will not take its time.

    “We now perceive Russia completely differently to five years ago. …

  • Kremlin tells OSCE that Russia has completed integration of annexed Crimea

    Dmitry Balakin, Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the OSCE stated at the meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council that the Crimea has completed its integration into Russia’s society, reported the press service of the Russian Permanent Mission to the OSCE.

    “Life has proven that the Crimea's residents made the right choice. Now, we can say for sure that its integration into Russia’s common political, legal, social and economic space has been completed,” he said.

    Balakin added that the …

  • Ukraine initiates criminal cases against Russian military after the incident in the Kerch Strait

    Commanders of the Southern Military District and the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation, as well as five employees of the FSB Border Service are suspected of "conducting an aggressive war" against Ukraine. 

    The Prosecutor General’s Office and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced that seven more Russian servicemen and the FSB border guard officers will be investigated in connection with the incident in the Kerch Strait. They are suspected of planning, preparing, initiating and …

  • US Navy aircraft carries out reconnaissance flights near the Crimea

    According to monitoring data of the PlaneRadar aviation service on Twitter, on Sunday, February 24, the US Navy aircraft conducted reconnaissance flight near the Kerch Strait and Sevastopol. 

    A Boeing P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine patrol aircraft with tail number 168848 took off from the NATO Naval Air Station at Sigonella in Sicily at 4:25 p.m. Moscow Standard Time. It crossed Bulgarian airspace at 5:45 p.m. and began a reconnaissance flight over the Kerch Strait area at a distance of 125 km …

  • Lithuania to propose new sanctions against Russia

    During a visit to Poland, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė said that Vilnius intends to propose additional sanctions against Russia if Moscow continues its aggressive policy towards Ukraine, BNS reports. 

    “If things continue to develop poorly, and Russia doesn’t start talking, but continues its aggressive policy throughout Ukraine and at the Kerch Strait, then, without a doubt, we will propose additional sanctions,” the Lithuanian leader told reporters in Lublin. 

    She added that the EU …