Three ukrainian boats with twenty-three soldiers were captured by Russia
23 Ukrainians were on board of the three boats captured by Russia near the Kerch Strait said Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Viktor Muzhenko. Later he added that contact with them has been lost.
There was emergently summoned the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine in Kyiv in the early hours of Monday
"We know nothing about the navy men, there is only information about six wounded, two of them have been wounded seriously," he said at a meeting of the Council. According to Muzhenko, the command receives controversial reports.
"Communications with the boats and members of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine after the Russian Federation's action have been lost and are now being blocked. There were as many as 23 people on board the vessels," he said.
Ukraine's presidential envoy to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Borys Babin wrote on Facebook that at there were least two dozen prisoners of war as a result of a recent act of Russian aggression.
"At least six wounded; more than two dozen prisoners of war. [It's a] direct act of aggression of the Russian Federation. We expect relevant decisions by the National Security and Defense Council. The aggressor has just confirmed the seizure of the vessels and crews. If this is not the moment of truth to take certain decisions, then there is a risk that it will never happen," he wrote.
As reported earlier, Russian coast guard ships opened fire on a group of vessels of the Ukrainian Navy – two small-sized 'Berdiansk' and 'Nikopol' armored artillery boats and the 'Yany Kapu' tugboat – as they were leaving the Kerch Strait on Sunday evening. Prior to that, on Sunday morning, the 'Yany Kapu' (Yani Qapi) tugboat of Ukraine's Navy was rammed by a Russian coast guard ship while the Ukrainian vessels were carrying out a planned transfer from the port of Odesa to the port of Mariupol in the Sea of Azov.
Recently we wrote about the statement of the Ukraine's Foreign Ministry.
Source: UNIAN