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Three navy ships held by Russia return to Ukraine port
KIEV, Nov 21, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Three navy vessels that Moscow seized last
year and handed back to Ukraine have arrived at a Ukrainian port, though Kiev
said they were stripped of equipment.
The Nikopol, the Berdyansk and the Yany Kapu were seized in November last
year in the Kerch Strait, in the most serious confrontation between Russia
and Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict in east Ukraine in 2014.
The two gunboats and a tugboat were handed back this week after they were
held in evidence following what Moscow says was an illegal breach of the
Russian border.
The ships were welcomed back on Wednesday evening by the Ukrainian navy
and President Volodymyr Zelensky, who reviewed them in the Black Sea navy
port in Ochakiv.
“I am very happy that our navy vessels are back where they belong. As
promised, we have brought back our sailors and our ships,” Zelensky said.
“Some of the equipment is missing, as well as some weapons,” he said.
“There will be an investigation. We will see all of the details.”
The vessels had to be towed to their destination by other Ukrainian ships
and were greeted from the shore by Ukrainians holding national flags.
The Ukrainian defence ministry said that “the Russians have dismantled
some communication and navigation equipment on board,” and the ships will be
examined by Ukrainian investigators and military prosecutors.
This will permit Ukraine to use the information “for judicial review of
Russia’s actions in Ukrainian and international courts,” Admiral Igor
Voronchenko said in a statement.
Sailors from the three ships were held by Moscow for months before being
released in October in a high-profile prisoner swap with Ukraine, a long-
awaited measure aimed at easing tensions ahead of a Ukraine peace summit next
month.
The presidents of Ukraine and Russia, with mediation by their counterparts
from Germany and France, will meet in Paris on December 9 aiming to end the
conflict in eastern Ukraine.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1347 hrs