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Russia returns seized Ukrainian ships from Kerch Strait
Summary
A look back at the handover of three Ukrainian Navy vessels held since the November 2018 incident.
What did it mean when Russia handed back three Ukrainian Navy vessels on 18 November 2019? The return closed one chapter of the Kerch Strait incident, in which the ships had been seized a year earlier, and it was reported at the time as part of the wider Russia–Ukraine crisis.
The incident took place on 25 November 2018. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) coast guard fired upon and captured three Ukrainian Navy vessels as they attempted to pass from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov through the Kerch Strait. The ships were on their way to the port of Mariupol.
The episode was the first time that Russian forces had openly engaged Ukrainian forces during the Russo-Ukrainian War. That made the fate of the vessels a lasting point of contention between Kyiv and Moscow.
By 18 November 2019, almost a year after the seizure, the three vessels were back in Ukrainian hands, as reported at the time.
