WATCH Ukrainian Ships Seized by Russian Border Guard After Kerch Strait Incident

On 25 November, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that three Ukrainian vessels - Berdyansk, Nikopol and Yany Kapu - had been seized after illegally crossing the maritime border with Russia.

A video, showing three ships from the Ukrainian Navy that were seized in the Black Sea and escorted to the port of Kerch on Sunday, emerged online. According to a correspondent from Russia's defence ministry TV channel Zvezda, the ships are now covered in a camouflage net.

 

The three vessels — Berdyansk, Nikopol, Yany Kapu — violated the Russian state border and moved through the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea, which prompted Russia to deploy border guard, military patrol ships, and military aircraft to stop what the FSB described as a 'provocation' orchestrated by Kiev.

READ MORE: Ukrainian Army Put on Full Combat Alert Amid Kerch Strait Standoff

The ships did not react to demands of the vessels escorting them and made dangerous manoeuvers, the FSB said. A criminal case has been initiated under Russian Criminal Code Article 322.3 — illegal crossing of the state border, the FSB spokesman said on Sunday.

Earlier, footage showing a FSB vessel pursuing the Ukrainian ships as they moved closer to the Kerch Strait was unearthed.