Kerch Strait standoff: martial law and a UN request

What happened on 26 November 2018, the day after Russian forces seized three Ukrainian Navy vessels in the Kerch Strait? Diplomacy, domestic politics and shipping all moved within hours.

The incident of 25 November

On 25 November 2018, Russia stopped three Ukrainian Navy vessels from passing under the Kerch Strait Bridge by blocking the way with a cargo ship. Moscow said the vessels had violated its territorial waters and ignored warnings. Shots were fired, and the ships and their crews were seized. Russia said three Ukrainians were wounded; Ukraine said six of its sailors were hurt and denied that its ships had done anything wrong. As later background describes it, the Russian Federal Security Service coast guard fired on and captured the vessels as they tried to move from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov on their way to the port of Mariupol.

The same day, an emergency meeting of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council 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. Parliament was set to meet in emergency session at 4 p.m. local time on 26 November.

The events of 26 November

The Verkhovna Rada approved the introduction of martial law in 10 oblasts of Ukraine for a period of 30 days.

Russia, for its part, asked for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council.

The Kerch Strait was also re-opened to commercial shipping on 26 November.

Looking back

The sequence of 25 and 26 November showed how quickly the confrontation moved from the water to the political arena: a naval seizure, an emergency security meeting, a parliamentary vote and a diplomatic request, all within about a day. Background written later describes the episode as the first time Russian forces had openly engaged Ukrainian forces during the Russo-Ukrainian War.