Wednesday, November 28, 2018

timeline for Sea of Azov, autumn 2018

11-26-18    Ukrainian naval vessels entered the Kerch Strait and threatened to fire on 
Russia’s Coast Guard, according to an official statement by Russia's Federal Security Service.  (Above:  some of Russian naval ships in Azov Sea)
After the Russian authorities refused to allow the Ukrainian convoy to pass through the Kerch Strait into the Azov Sea, the Ukrainian ships allegedly uncovered their artillery guns, and raised them to 45 degrees, aiming at the fleet of Russian vessels.
  Moscow says Sunday’s conflict, which ended in Russia’s pursuit and seizure of three Ukrainian ships, was a planned “provocation” by Kyiv. https://meduza.io/en/news/2018/11/26/russia-says-ukraine-s-navy-threatened-russian-ships-at-the-kerch-strait-with-artillery-guns
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timeline for Sea of Azov, autumn 2018:

23 SEPTEMBER

The Ukrainian Navy's Donbass command-and-control ship and Korets tug boat enter the Kerch Strait under Russian escort.  They head for Berdyansk to become part of a new naval group.
It is announced later that the USA will hand over to Ukraine two second-hand Island class patrol vessels to defend the Sea of Azov.

9 OCTOBER

A three-day tactical military exercise gets under way on Ukraine's Sea of Azov coast to practise countering a landing of enemy troops, with President Petro Poroshenko praising the military and declaring that Ukraine is ready to "repel Russian aggression from the Sea of Azov".  

18 NOVEMBER

Another ship, the Kerch, arrives in Rostov to join Russia's sizeable fleet in the Sea of Azov.  According to different estimates, it comprises 60 to 120 vessels.  Some of them, former Ukrainian General Staff official Ihor Romanenko alleges, are fitted with Kalibr cruise missiles.

19 NOVEMBER

EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels to discuss the crisis.  They urge Russia not to restrict navigation and promise to take "targeted measures" in response to the situation. 

23 NOVEMBER

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin describes the Western statements about the militarization of the Sea of Azov as "far-fetched" . He says Moscow has no plans to increase its military presence in the area, even despite Ukraine's ambitions to do so.
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it "resolutely denies any accusations" and expresses regret that the West supports Ukraine's "confrontational course" on the matter.    https://monitoring.bbc.co.uk/product/c200g2qa
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25 NOVEMBER (Sunday)  Russian FSB tactical coast guard hits the 3 Ukrainian ships, wound men and ships, capture Ukrainians, give some of them a show trial and imprisonment.  Most of Ukrainian Navy already had been lost to Putin's covert Crimean take-over in 2014 right after the winter Olympics at Sochi.  Ukrainian ships did not return fire but tried to evade on 11-25.    
-Ukrainian tugboat, caught between 2 Russian ships, was rammed.        https://twitter.com/AvakovArsen   on Nov 25, 11:10 a.m.
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11-26-18   Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukrainian authorities of using "gangster tactics" in the Kerch Strait -- first a provocation, then pressure, and finally accusations of aggression.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), which oversees the country's border guard service, said its forces fired weapons at the Ukrainian Navy ships to get them to stop after they had illegally entered Russia's territorial waters.  "In order to stop the Ukrainian military ships, weapons were used," the FSB said. It also confirmed that three Ukrainian navy ships were “boarded and searched."

But the Ukrainian Navy says its vessels -- including two small-sized artillery boats -- were attacked by Russian coast guard ships as they were leaving the 12-mile zone of the Kerch Strait and moving back into the Black Sea.  https://www.tert.am/en/news/2018/11/26/ukraine/2854567

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