KIEV – Two critical Ukrainian trade ports, Berdyansk and Mariupol, have effectively been placed under blockade by the Russian Federation as harbour traffic has essentially been halted, the country’s infrastructure minister said Thursday.
Some 35 vessels have been mooted and unable to carry out usual operations, with only ships destined for Russian ports allowed to sail, Minister Volodymyr Omelyan wrote in a statement.
“The goal is simple – by placing a blockade on Ukrainian ports on the Azov Sea, Russia hopes to drive Ukraine out of our own territory – territory that is ours in accordance will all relevant international laws,” he said, according to a Reuter’s translation of his Facebook post.
Omelyan said 18 vessels were awaiting entry into the Azov Sea at the Kerch Strait, with four destined for Berdyansk and 14 for Mariupol.
There is also a line of nine vessels to leave the sea and eight other vessels are standing by near the port berths.
Russia blockaded the Kerch Strait, and fired upon and captured two Ukrainian naval vessels and a tugboat on Sunday, the only entrance into the Azov Sea, which both Kiev and Moscow have coastal territory on.
The Russians also brought 24 Ukrainian sailors into custody, 12 of which will be incarcerated for at least two months, Moscow said earlier this week.
The Kerch Strait incident has brought the Ukraine crisis back into the international spotlight, and driven tensions to its highest level since Russian-back separatists went to war with Kiev in 2015, following Moscow’s annexation of Crimea during the year previous.
©️2018 Breaking911 – Eli Ridder
