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Kerch Strait standoff: the day parliament acted
Summary
A retrospective on 26 November 2018, when Kyiv's parliament voted on martial law and Moscow called for the UN Security Council to meet.
What happens in the hours after warships are fired upon and seized? On 26 November 2018, the answer played out in three places at once: the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv, the United Nations, and the waters of the Kerch Strait itself.
The incident the day before
On 25 November 2018, Russia blocked three Ukrainian Navy vessels from passing under the Kerch Strait Bridge by placing a cargo ship in their path. Moscow said the vessels had violated its territorial waters and ignored warnings. Ukraine denied that its ships had done anything wrong. Shots were fired, and the vessels and their crews were seized. Russia said three Ukrainians were wounded; Ukraine said six of its sailors were hurt.
The background to the episode is that the Russian Federal Security Service coast guard fired on and captured the ships as they tried to move from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov, on their way to the port of Mariupol. It was the first time Russian forces had openly engaged Ukrainian forces during the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Kyiv's response
The same day, an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine was convened in response to the blockade and the seizure. Afterwards, President Petro Poroshenko said he would ask the Verkhovna Rada to back a declaration of martial law. The parliament was set to hold an emergency session at 4 p.m. local time on 26 November.
That session produced a decision. The Rada approved the introduction of martial law in 10 oblasts of Ukraine for a period of 30 days.
Moscow turns to the UN
On the same date, Russia asked for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council. The request placed the strait crisis before the international body one day after the confrontation at sea.
The practical situation in the strait also changed on 26 November: it was re-opened to commercial shipping, after the blockade that had followed the seizure of the Ukrainian vessels.
What the day showed
By the end of 26 November 2018, the confrontation had moved from the water to institutions. Ukraine had put a time-limited martial law measure through parliament, Russia had sought a Security Council session, and commercial traffic through the strait had resumed. The Ukrainian vessels and their crews remained in Russian hands after being seized the previous day.
