Ukrainian ships crossed the Russian border. Three Ukrainian Navy ships crossed the Russian border

It is assumed that the Russian ships received an order to prevent the Ukrainian Navy from entering Azov at any cost for the second time.

Events in the Black Sea developed rapidly, but nothing foreshadowed an armed conflict. The voyage of the three ships was no different from previous successful pass– and this time the Russians went on a collision course.

Where it all started

On November 25 at 6 am, the Ukrainian tugboat Yany Kapu, accompanied by the armored boats Berdyansk and Nikopol, began crossing the Kerch Strait to get to the Sea of ​​Azov. At 6:34 a.m., Russian border service vessels and the Black Sea Fleet ship Suzdalets began maneuvering around the Ukrainians. At 13:05, Russian Ka-52 attack helicopters and Su-25 attack aircraft joined the attack.

Meanwhile, in Kyiv, protesters are gathering near the Russian Embassy in Ukraine.

TSN.ua
Protesters brought tires to the Russian Embassy.

A number of Western countries have already officially reacted to Russian aggression. The European Union stated that Russia must free the Kerch Strait for the passage of ships, NATO assured that it supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and called on Russia to stop the escalation.

TSN.ua leads text online conflict in the Kerch Strait.

It was not a success - an insurmountable barrier awaited the Ukrainians under the Crimean Bridge. Then the Ukrainian Navy sent reinforcements, but they didn’t help either. Why did Ukraine start this whole show?

In Kyiv, they got tired of looking for reasons to talk about Russian aggression, and decided to orchestrate such a reason themselves.

“Russia’s provocative actions in the Black and Azov Seas have crossed the border and become aggressive. Ships Russian Federation in violation of freedom of navigation, they unlawfully used force against the ships of the Ukrainian Navy,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry burst into panic on Sunday.

For the sake of this statement, the Ukrainian fleet staged an entire naval show on November 25. In the morning, the border service of the FSB of Russia reported that at about 07.00 three ships of the Ukrainian Navy - the armored boats "Berdyansk" and "Nikopol" and the sea tug "Yany Kapu" (formerly "Krasnoperekopsk") - crossed the state border in violation of Articles 19 and 21 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and illegally entered the temporarily closed waters of the territorial sea of ​​the Russian Federation.

This proud Ukrainian armada was heading towards the Kerch Strait, where there is a permitting procedure for the movement and mooring of ships. According to the Ukrainian Navy, the ships were making a planned passage from Odessa to Mariupol, which was allegedly informed about in advance. True, the department did not specify who exactly they informed. For example, the FSB border department for Crimea has never heard of anything like this. According to border guards, Ukrainians did not apply for passage and therefore were not included in the schedule.

At the same time, the ships of the Ukrainian Navy maneuvered dangerously and did not obey the demands of the Russian border guards.

Former commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov, stressed that Ukrainian ships must strictly comply with international law, as well as rules in territorial and neutral waters. Every ship that goes to sea is tuned to the international 16th communication channel and is obliged to respond to it, otherwise there is a provocation, he explained to the newspaper VZGLYAD.

“If they start crossing the canal in a boorish manner - without inspection, without pilotage - they should not be allowed in. Of course, it would be better to refrain from using weapons, but at a minimum, it is necessary to warn,” Komoyedov added.

“We have warning shots. We need to warn you via communication channel 16 that if you cross this line, we will use weapons, and show you what kind. In the end, we have the right to use force in this case,” he concluded.

The FSB border service was forced to take measures to ensure the safety of navigation, and therefore sent its ships (presumably border guard boats of the Sobol type, PSKR Don, boats of the Mongoose type and MPK Suzdalets) to escort Ukrainian ships and demanded to stop provocative actions .

It was after this that Kyiv declared that Russia had carried out “aggressive actions.” “The border ship Don rammed our raid tug, as a result of which the ship’s main engine, hull and railing were damaged, and the life raft was lost,” the Ukrainian Navy said on Facebook. And this caused bewilderment even among Ukrainian users of the social network, who noted that it was some kind of shame to stage a provocation and get a hole from Russian ships right in front of their armored boats.

In principle, such actions by border guards would be quite logical and legal, since we were talking about violating the Russian border. But the realism of this story is questionable.

Firstly, there was and is no confirmation of this from Russia. The representative of the press service of the border department of the FSB of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Crimea, Marina Boenko, in a comment to the newspaper VZGLYAD, noted in bewilderment: “We did not write this. We do not comment on the reports of the Ukrainian Navy.”

Secondly, this incident looks very strange. The fact is that the PSKR “Don” is a fairly large ship with a displacement of about 1.5 thousand tons. And the tug "Yany Kapu" is a small boat with a displacement of approximately 300 tons, that is, five times less. And the Ukrainian side claims that after a collision with such a colossus, the tugboat did not send its crew to search for the lost raft by swimming, but got away with dented skin, damaged railings and a damaged engine.

The former chief of staff of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Pyotr Svyatashov, emphasizes that if such a collision had happened in reality, the tug would not have gotten off so lightly.

“It’s all a lie. There would only be chips left there,” he told the newspaper VZGLYAD, comparing the situation to a collision between a matchbox and a bathtub.

Meanwhile, the tug not only survived, but, as reported by the Ukrainian Navy, somehow continued its journey to the Kerch Strait as part of the invincible Ukrainian armada, despite the broken engine. Apparently, in Ukraine they have learned to resurrect not only journalists like Arkady Babchenko, but also naval ships.

What the Russian border guards did do was block the passage through the Kerch Strait, which the Ukrainian ships arrived at around noon. “The channel is closed - the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal. Not for any (warships) they close. But there is obvious non-compliance with the requirements, and there are fears of provocations,” said a TASS source in the transport sector of the Southern Federal District.

The passage under the arches of the Crimean Bridge was blocked by a dry cargo ship. In addition, three Russian military boats and two military helicopters, as well as Su-25 attack aircraft, went on duty.

Thus, on the approaches to the Kerch Strait and the Sea of ​​Azov, the adventures of the Ukrainian armada ended. The assigned task - to reach Mariupol - was not completed, which did not suit the Ukrainian command. Then the Navy decided that the show must go on, and sent two Gyurza-class artillery armored boats to the same area at top speed.

Before the territorial waters of the Russian Federation, Ukrainian reinforcements had to slow down to zero - they have not yet decided to enter them. Apparently, the statement of the Russian FSB that the border service would take all measures to stop the Ukrainian provocation had an effect, and “the Kyiv leadership, making such dangerous and irresponsible decisions, should think about the consequences of their actions.”

These provocations must be answered with one thing - a barrier, Komoyedov emphasizes.

“We need to involve the Black Sea Fleet if there are not enough border forces. The fleet has such a duty, it can come to the aid of border guards by raising the border flag, which is on every ship, and comply with all border rules, disembark an inspection team,” the admiral said, emphasizing that in the end the fleet could go on a collision .

Vice Admiral Pyotr Svyatashov agrees with this, according to whom the Ukrainian ships could be preparing some kind of provocation against the Crimean Bridge.

"It's very dangerous games. We are a serious country, and any attempt by foreign armed forces to enter our sovereign territory could end in failure,” Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Andrei Klimov told the newspaper VZGLYAD.

“We will hope that the foreign curators of Kyiv will have enough prudence, and they will not allow him to continue in the same spirit. But if he goes too far, then, in my opinion, there is no need to stand on ceremony. Anyone should know that military adventures crossing our border will be stopped by all the capabilities we have. You can’t forgive jokes of this kind, otherwise they’ll get into the habit and then won’t stop. The military must act according to the regulations and defend our sovereign territory,” the senator emphasized.

Experts agree that the initiative to carry out a provocation came personally from the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. “It’s time for the elections, and here the heads of European states are still gathering. “Although this is not easy, Russia now needs to act in such a way as not to resort to open force in response to provocations, but also not to let Kyiv down, to protect its border,” he concluded.

Early in the morning of November 25, two small armored artillery boats (SBAC) "Berdyansk" and "Nikopol", as well as the raid tug "Yany Kapu" were going to move from the port of Odessa to the port of Mariupol as part of the creation of a base of the Naval Forces (Navy) in the Sea of ​​Azov. The Armed Forces of Ukraine to counter the aggressive actions of the Russian Federation in the region. At the end of September, the search and rescue vessel A500 "Donbass" and the sea tug A830 "Korets" proceeded to Mariupol for the same purpose. During the crossing they were accompanied by ships and aircraft of the Russian Federation, but they managed to cross the strait. Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Viktor Muzhenko noted that on November 25, the Ukrainian military acted according to the same algorithm as in September.

When Ukrainian ships notified about the transition

According to the Ukrainian Navy, at 3.58 (the time hereinafter indicated in Kyiv) the boat "Berdyansk" informed the technical observation post at Cape Takil, and also sea ​​ports Kerch and the Caucasus about their intention to pass through the Kerch Strait. The Commander of the Ukrainian Naval Forces Igor Voronchenko noted that this was done two hours before the planned start of the transition. The Navy said that the post and ports received the corresponding message, but did not respond to it. At the same time, at 4.07, the Kerch port dispatcher was negotiating with the ship of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation "Suzdalets" about identifying the ship group of the Ukrainian Navy. At approximately 6.00, Ukrainian boats and a tugboat crossed the 12-mile zone around Crimea (Russia considers this line its “state border,” although neither Ukraine nor the international community recognizes the annexation of Crimea) and began moving towards the Kerch Strait.

The Russian version of events is different. The FSB said that the boat "Berdyansk" at 4.35 reported to the technical observation post about the planned passage of Ukrainian Navy ships. At 5.30 the commander of the Russian border guard patrol boat"Sobol" informed the commander of "Berdyansk" Roman Mokryak that Ukrainian ships were prohibited from crossing the strait, as they had to submit an application 48 hours in advance, resubmit it 24 hours in advance and confirm it in four hours. The FSB added that the Navy ships ignored this information and crossed the 12-mile zone.

The Ukrainian Navy is confident that, according to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2003 treaty between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, Ukrainian warships have the right to pass through the Kerch Strait at any time, subject to the safety of navigation.

The agreement between the Russian Federation and Ukraine on cooperation in the use of the Sea of ​​Azov and the Kerch Sea provides that:

• The Sea of ​​Azov and the Kerch Strait are historically inland waters Russian Federation and Ukraine.
• Merchant ships and warships, as well as other state vessels flying the flag of the Russian Federation or Ukraine, operated for non-commercial purposes, enjoy freedom of navigation in the Sea of ​​​​Azov and the Kerch Strait.

Russia believes that the strait belongs to it. “Let me also remind you that the Kerch Strait is not a strait subject to regulation by international law - it is Russian,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on November 23.

The point where, according to the FSB, Ukrainian ships crossed the 12-mile zone. Map: openstreetmap.org

How the ramming and shelling took place

After the Ukrainian ships crossed the 12-mile zone, four ships of the Russian border guards and the Russian World Cup ship "Suzdalets" began to perform dangerous maneuvers near the Ukrainian boats and tugboat, Voronchenko said. The border patrol ship "Don" deliberately rammed the tugboat "Yany Kapu" several times, damaging its main engine, hull and railing. A life raft was also lost. From the negotiations of Russian sailors, which were published on November 26 by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, it follows that the Don rammed the Yany Kapa twice - at 6.35 and at 6.44. Of the Russian ships, not only the Don was damaged, but also the Izumrud. According to records of negotiations, they clashed with each other.

The place where the Don rammed the Yany Kapa twice. Map: openstreetmap.org

The Bellingcat project concluded that the Yana Kapu was rammed at least four times. This, in particular, is evidenced by the video that was published on the evening of November 25. Firstly, the time there sounds 8.21 (7.21 Kyiv time). Secondly, the recording shows damage to the tugboat Yany Kapu from at least two previous rams.

VIDEO

Video: Otvertka74 / YouTube

According to the FSB of the Russian Federation, from 9.35 to 17.30 a group of Ukrainian Navy ships was blocked in the area of ​​anchorage No. 471. Traffic through the Kerch Strait was blocked by the tanker Neyma and two tugboats - "Bystry" and "Gandvik". As noted in the Navy, at 13.40 it was reported via especially high frequency communication channels ("Kerch-traffic-control") that the tanker ran aground under the arch of the Kerch Bridge, but at 13.50 the sea minesweeper of the Russian Black Sea Fleet "Admiral Zakharin" was allowed through the strait "and two boats of the Raptor project of the border service of the FSB of the Russian Federation.

They opened fire on the boat "Berdyansk".

The Russian side used aviation. The Ukrainian Navy reported that at 13.12 two Ka-52 attack helicopters of the Russian Armed Forces took aim at Ukrainian ships. Agency and Russian channel NTV also reported on two Su-25 attack aircraft. The SBU later clarified that Ka-52 helicopters and Su-30 fighter jets were involved. According to the department, the Su-30 and Ka-52 each fired two missiles during the incident.

At 5:30 p.m., Navy ships began moving out of the 12-mile zone. Russian border guards pursued them and demanded to stop, threatening to use weapons. According to the FSB of the Russian Federation, at 19.45, the Izumrud fired warning shots towards the Ukrainian ships, and at 19.55, it fired at the Berdyansk small tank, after which the boat began to drift, and the commander reported the wounded on board and requested help. "Ukrainian military portal" assumes that the Berdyansk was hit by a 30-mm shell from the AK-630 artillery mount, which the Izumrud was armed with. Editor-in-Chief BlackSeaNews portal Andrey Klimenko notes that they opened fire to prevent the ships from leaving.

Photo gallery (1 of 2)

According to the FSB of the Russian Federation, "Berdyansk" was captured at 20.06, "Yany Kapu" - at 20.15, and "Nikopol" - at 22.21. The latter was not injured during the capture. At 23.40, wounded Ukrainian soldiers Andrei Artemenko and Andrei Eider, as well as SBU counterintelligence officer Vasily Soroka, were taken to the 1st Kerch city hospital. The ships arrived at the port of Kerch at 5.40 on November 26.

According to the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine, Ukrainian ships were seized in neutral waters.

Who was captured?

A total of 22 Ukrainian sailors were captured.

SBU officers Vasily Soroka and Andrey Drach were also captured. According to the department, Soroka was seriously injured. Captured Ukrainians. They were brought there from occupied Crimea.

Who carried out the seizure?

The SBU and the military prosecutor's office opened criminal proceedings under Part 2 of Art. 437 (planning, preparation, unleashing and waging an aggressive war), part 2 of Art. 15, paragraph 1, part 2, art. 115 (attempted intentional murder) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. On the list of suspects:

• Rear Admiral Sergei Stankevich, head of the FSB border department for Crimea;
• Vice Admiral Gennady Medvedev, Deputy Head of the Border Service of the FSB of the Russian Federation;
• Captain 1st Rank Ruslan Romashkin, head of the service in Balaklava of the border department of the FSB of the Russian Federation for Crimea, which includes the border patrol ships "Izumrud" and "Don";
• captain 1st rank Andrey Shein, deputy head of the department - head of the coast guard department of the border department of the FSB of the Russian Federation for Crimea;
• captain 2nd rank Alexey Shatokhin, head of the service in Kerch of the border department of the FSB of Russia for Crimea;
• captain 2nd rank Alexey Salyaev, commander of the ship "Don";
• captain 3rd rank Andrey Shipitsyn, commander of the ship "Emerald";
• captain 3rd rank Sergei Shcherbakov, commander of the ship "Suzdalets".

Deputy Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Oleg Frolov said that the capture of Ukrainian ships that defected to the Russian Federation after the occupation of Crimea. He did not mention their names. In the list of suspects and the list of former SBU employees who betrayed their oath, which is published on the agency’s website, only one name matches - Alexey Shatokhin.

Ukrainian sailors, whom Kyiv sent for a planned provocation in the Kerch Strait, will face trial tomorrow. And they are already giving evidence. All three Ukrainian warships, which tried to break through from the Black Sea to the Sea of ​​Azov, did not respond to the legitimate demands of Russian border guards and performed maneuvers dangerous for civilian ships, are now moored in the Kerch port.

Immediately after the detention, Russian border guards towed the Ukrainian warships to the Kerch port and moored to the General Pier. Here they are standing side to side: two small boats and a road tug. Now FSB officers are conducting investigative activities there.

It is not known exactly what time two artillery boats and one raid tug left Odessa. Considering the distance (almost 400 kilometers by sea) and the economical speed (about 10 knots), the journey took almost a day.

At dawn on November 25, the group entered the territorial waters of the Russian Federation. This is a coastal stretch of sea 12 nautical miles wide, or 22 kilometers. Small boats of project 58155 "Nikopol" and "Berdyansk", accompanied by the tugboat "Yany Kapu", confidently headed towards the Kerch Strait and the strategically important Russian site - the Crimean Bridge. Although the Ukrainian command did not submit notification of the passage in advance.

Therefore, the ships of the FSB border service went to intercept: the boats Sobol and Mongoose, the patrol ship Don and the small anti-submarine ship Suzdalets. The forces are very serious. "Berdyansk" and "Nikopol" have quite powerful weapons: missile systems"Barrier" capable of penetrating up to 80 centimeters of solid armor at a distance of up to 5 kilometers.

Ukrainian sailors did not respond to attempts to find out the reasons and purposes of being in Russian territorial waters. Moreover, they made aggressive and unpredictable maneuvers. I had to use weapons and board them. The moment when our patrol boat pushes back the Ukrainian tugboat was captured on camera.

The Yana Kapu's starboard side has been damaged and its guardrails have been torn off. Three sailors were injured. Only after this the violators stopped resisting and stopped the cars. There were about 6 miles left before entering the Kerch Strait itself.

At this moment, the command of the Ukrainian Navy allegedly decides to support the operation and sends two more light boats of the same Gyurza project of the Ukrainian Navy from Berdyansk. And this fact is additional confirmation that all this was intended precisely as a provocation. Because there was no military sense in the second raid, given the disproportionality of forces. Most likely they were protecting the first group. In case the provocation fails.

And when it became known that the first group had been detained in its entirety, both “Gyurzas” returned to Berdyansk. By this time, a dry cargo ship had already anchored under the arch of the Crimean Bridge. Shipping has been stopped. Su-25 attack aircraft patrolled the sky over the strait. Several units, including marines, have been deployed near Kerch. To enhance.

The three Ukrainian sailors wounded during the detention were immediately treated medical care. The crews of all three ships were detained as border violators.

“They testify about the violations that were committed. Three people are in the first Kerch hospital, they are receiving medical care, the doctors do not consider their condition to be serious,” says Tatyana Moskalkova, Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation.

Ukrainian sailors grossly violated Articles 19 and 21 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. According to which any ships, including military ones, can carry out peaceful passage in the waters of another state, not use weapons and not commit provocative actions. But, most importantly, they must comply with the safety rules and regulations established by the host country of the waters. In this case: obtain permission to pass through the Kerch Strait. This was done and was not done, therefore no pilotage was provided for the passage of Ukrainian ships under the Crimean Bridge.