The Ukraine/Crimea/Russia crisis flares up again today as Russia blockaded the Sea of Azov then fired upon three Ukrainian naval ships who attempted passage Sunday. After wounding several sailors, the Russians then seized the three boats; igniting another crisis between the two countries and initiating an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting tomorrow.
The EU and NATO alliance will likely call for U.S. assisted military intervention of some sort. The structure of the Ukrainian government is full of western intelligence assets; and once again we can expect the professionally republican and professionally democrat to unite in common cause and demand we go to war….
Russian jet fighters fly over a bridge connecting the Russian mainland with the Crimean Peninsula with a cargo ship beneath it after three Ukrainian navy vessels was stopped by Russia from entering the Sea of Azov via the Kerch Strait in the Black Sea, Crimea November 25, 2018. REUTERS/Pavlishak Alexey
(Reuters) Russia’s FSB security service said early on Monday its border patrol boats had seized the Ukrainian naval vessels in the Black Sea and used weapons to force them to stop, Russian news agencies reported.
The FSB said it had been forced to act because the ships – two small Ukrainian armored artillery vessels and a tug boat – had illegally entered its territorial waters, attempted illegal actions, and ignored warnings to stop while maneuvering dangerously.
“Weapons were used with the aim of forcibly stopping the Ukrainian warships,” the FSB said in a statement circulated to Russian state media.
“As a result, all three Ukrainian naval vessels were seized in the Russian Federation’s territorial waters in the Black Sea.”
The FSB said three Ukrainian sailors were wounded in the incident and were getting medical care. Their lives were not in danger, it said.
[…] Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met his top military and security chiefs. Poroshenko said he would propose that parliament impose martial law.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and then built a giant road bridge linking it to southern Russia that straddles the Kerch Strait – a narrow stretch of water that links the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov, which is home to two of Ukraine’s most important ports.
Russia’s control of Crimea, where its Black Sea Fleet is based, and of the bridge mean it is able to control shipping flows.
The crisis began on Sunday after Russia stopped the three Ukrainian ships from entering the Sea of Azov by placing a cargo ship beneath the bridge. (Read More)
