Disinfo: In November 2018 Ukrainian warships secretly tried to sneak through the Kerch Strait by entering Russian territorial waters

Summary

As we said multiple times before, there are no problems with the passage of Ukrainian warships from the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Azov. The only condition is compliance with safety standards for navigation and access to the Kerch Strait. […] So was it until November of the last year [2018], but then […] in November [2018] the [Ukrainian] warships secretly tried to sneak through the Kerch Strait by entering [Russian] territorial waters, the part that was Russia’s territorial waters before the referendum in Crimea.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation on Ukraine and Azov Sea. In November and December 2018, Ukrainian civilian ships and warships wanting to enter the Azov Sea had enormous problems. Russia was deliberately blocking the Kerch Strait in order to prevent the passage of a naval group of the Ukrainian Navy. According to UNIAN, Russia blocked the passage of over 100 ships in December 2018 - it is therefore wrong to state, that there is no problem with the passage of Ukrainian ships to the Azov Sea. Russia used a cargo ship under the Kerch Bridge to block passage under the bridge’s arch.

The construction of the Kerch Bridge took place without Ukraine's consent and constitutes a violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. It has led, in parallel to the militarisation of the Azov Sea and to tougher controls on naval traffic in the strait. The European Union stated that it expects Russia to stop the inspections.

For further reporting see the Bellingcat, DFRLab and Polygraph.

Background: On November 25th 2018, three Ukrainian war ships were moving “in accordance with the provisions of all effective multilateral and bilateral international treaties and navigation rules”. The Ukrainian war ships were seized and their crews were detained, despite the fact that the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) states that “all ships, including foreign warships, enjoy the right of “innocent passage” within another state’s territorial sea under international law.” On 25 November, border patrol boats belonging to Russia’s FSB security service seized the two small Ukrainian armoured artillery vessels and their whole crews after shooting at them, wounding several Ukrainian servicemen. A bilateral treaty between Russia and Ukraine, signed in 2003 and ratified by Russia in 2004, governs the use of the Kerch strait and the Sea of Azov, which in the treaty is considered to be the “internal waters” of both Russia and Ukraine.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 150
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 22/04/2019
  • Outlet language(s) German
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: Azov sea, Kerch, Black Sea
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Disproof

A recurring narrative on defaming the Ukrainian election and its candidates. Similar cases can be found here. The website of the Ukrainian Academy of Monitoring, Analysis and Forecast, which is mentioned by the Russian state-owned site "Ukraina.ru", was registered on April 4, 2019, only a few weeks before the second round of the presidential election. There is no information about this organisation in any open databases. Officially, there are three organisations that organise the “National exit poll 2019” in Ukraine: Democratic Initiatives Foundation, Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, and the Ukrainian Centre for Economic and Political Research.

Disinfo: Ukrainian police reported a sharp increase in the number of violations in the presidential elections

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Disproof

Manipulative exaggeration and fake headline. The official statement by Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs at 14:00 on April 21 claimed that they received 562 reports of election irregularities, while during the first round of the presidential elections, at the exact time (14:00), they received 522 reports of election irregularities. Therefore, there is no evidence to support a sharp increase of violations compared to the first round. In general, the National Police of Ukraine received almost 2500 reports of violations during the first round. At 19:00 on April 21, there were 1167 reports of violations, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to international observers, the Ukrainian presidential election was the cleanest in the country's history. Read similar disinformation cases on Ukraine's elections here and here.

Disinfo: Russia fully respects international law, in Crimea and elsewhere

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Disproof

According to international law, Crimea is part of Ukraine. Russia violated international law, as well as the key principles of the European security framework, by illegally annexing the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol. On March 27th, 2014, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in which it stated that the referendum in Crimea was not valid and could not serve as a basis for any change in the status of the peninsula. Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, recognised on April 17th, 2015 that "our soldiers were deployed in Crimea to help the inhabitants express their opinion". Claiming that the sanctions against Russia are ineffective is another example of a recurrent pro-Kremlin narrative. In reality, sanctions imposed on Russia after the Crimea annexation and Russian meddling in the US elections sapped Russian economical growth. See more disinformation cases on Crimea here.