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The truth, as usual, lies in between what both sides are saying. Ukraine is sending navy ships to a new base in Berdyansk, in the Azov sea. This involves sailing them under the Kerch bridge. They did this recently, liked the response it got so went for it again. I know technically Ukraine has the right to send navy ships under the bridge but I would say its unnecessary posturing. There is little military reason to expand its navy in Berdyansk even if there is a right. It seems to me that Ukraine may have done this to bait Russia into some action like this.
Russia is also at fault for lying about this being a provocation sent by the West, ramming a tug boat already stopped (how much of a threat was it really?) and using weapons to take over the other boats. They would have gotten the job done by chasing them off after closing the straight. Maybe even declare that a victory and the point would be made that Ukraine can't move its navy into a sensitive sea. Instead they look very bad in the eyes of Ukrainians and the West, where an appetite is growing for increased sanctions and an election is coming up where Russia was hoping to gain some sympathetic votes. It also shoots its church in the foot as they try to convince their clergy not to defect.
The issue is unresolved as long as the sailors and boats remain captive. They should be returned and Ukraine should agree not to send military ships into the Azov sea.
I'll second this. Make the Sea of Azov a weapons free zone. If Russia is so worried about the bridge they can put troops on it. Only a small police force/coast guard contingent crewed by both Ukrainian and Russian sailors? Were law enforcement to disappear god knows what the criminal element in the area would be doing.
The individuals detained ON BOTH SIDES should be released. The ships? I'd make the patrol boats part of the police force and give the tug back.
I still think you're missing the bigger picture DKM. I see that Russia is responding to Ukraine and the west in the same way you respond to a school yard bully. We all know what you get if don't do something. NATO so close to Russia is an existential threat to Russia.
You're thinking like a Ukraine fanatic and unable to process objective information. They've already admitted the Russian navy was within its legal right to deny passage and escort the ships away from the bridge under the joint 2003 agreement. When the Ukrainian vessels resisted and attempted another approach at the bridge, they were subject to being taken into custody under maritime law.
it seemes to me Ukranians nazis wanna start WW3? in this case they will not able to use their property in the USA or somewhere because there will be no any buildings. As well as in Russia, sure
Ukraine’s state security service says that its intelligence officers were among the crew on Ukrainian naval ships seized by Russia in a standoff near Crimea.
The SBU agency said in a statement Tuesday that the officers were fulfilling counterintelligence operations for the Ukrainian navy, in response to “psychological and physical pressure” by Russian spy services. It didn’t elaborate, but demanded that Russia stop such activity.
Russia’s FSB intelligence agency said late Monday that that there were SBU officers on board the Ukrainian ships, calling that proof of a “provocation” staged by Ukraine.
There is nothing unusual to have state security officers on ships. This in fact existed in many navies for hundreds of years, including Russia's and the Soviet Union. So the fact that FSB is presenting this as evidence of a setup only confirms that Russian state organs are pushing lies. Gullible Russians probably believe it though.
SBU officers? Don't they have more important duties like arresting Ukrainian women coming from Russia, beating and raping them?
Awhile back there was a case of this. I can't remember her name. Anyone? Where is her mother?
I'd find a deep dark hole for them. Kicking them out of a chopper in the middle of Siberia next to a hungry pack of wolves is something they would wish for.
People like these are the mechanisms governments use to terrorize populations, governments the world over.
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