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Kerch Strait crisis: where things stood on 28 November 2018
Summary
A look back at the diplomatic and legal fallout in the days after Russian forces fired on and seized three Ukrainian Navy vessels.
Where did the Kerch Strait crisis stand on 28 November 2018? Three days after the incident, the immediate shooting was over, but its consequences were still unfolding in Kyiv, Moscow and at the United Nations.
The episode began on 25 November 2018, when the Russian Federal Security Service coast guard fired upon and captured three Ukrainian Navy vessels. The ships had tried to pass from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov through the strait, 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.
Steps taken by 26 November
By 26 November, events had moved quickly on several fronts. Russia asked for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to be convened.
On the same date, the Verkhovna Rada approved the introduction of martial law in 10 oblasts of Ukraine for a period of 30 days. This placed a defined set of regions under special legal arrangements for a fixed period.
The Kerch Strait was also re-opened to commercial shipping on 26 November, so the waterway was again open to commercial traffic.
What the sequence showed
Taken together, these steps defined the first days after the clash: a diplomatic move by Russia at the UN, a legal decision by Ukraine's parliament, and a return to commercial shipping through the strait. The captured vessels had been the focus of the incident from its first hours on 25 November.
