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Kerch Strait crisis: martial law and a reopened passage
Summary
A look back at 28 November 2018, three days after Russian forces fired on and seized Ukrainian naval vessels, and at the steps taken in the interval.
What had changed in the days after Russian coast guard vessels fired on and captured three Ukrainian Navy ships? By 28 November 2018, the picture was one of legal, diplomatic and commercial moves layered on top of a military incident.
The incident took place on 25 November 2018 in the Kerch Strait. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) coast guard fired upon and captured three Ukrainian Navy vessels that were attempting to pass from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov, on their way to the port of Mariupol. It was the first time that Russian forces had openly engaged Ukrainian forces during the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Three decisions on 26 November
The response moved quickly. On 26 November 2018, Russia asked for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council. The same day, the Verkhovna Rada approved the introduction of martial law in 10 oblasts of Ukraine for a period of 30 days.
Also on 26 November 2018, the Kerch Strait was re-opened to commercial shipping, so the passage was again available for commercial traffic.
What the sequence showed
Taken together, these steps show how the confrontation was handled in its first days. Moscow turned to the UN Security Council, Kyiv's parliament set a fixed 30-day term for martial law in a defined group of regions, and commercial shipping through the strait resumed. The naval clash itself, with its capture of three vessels, remained the central event behind each of these measures.
By 28 November 2018, the martial-law period approved by the Rada was running, and the strait was open to commercial vessels again.
