DISINFO: Three Ukrainian ships violated the Russian border
SUMMARY
On the morning of the November 25th (2018), three Ukrainian navy ships, Berdiansk, Nikopol and tugboat Yany Kapu violated the Russian border and were carrying out dangerous manoeuvres for several hours, ignoring the orders from the Russian military. Ukrainian navy officers were accused of illegal crossing the Russian border and arrested.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on the Kerch strait incident. On November 25th 2018, border patrol boats belonging to Russia’s FSB security service seized two small Ukrainian armoured artillery vessels and a tug boat and their crews after shooting at them, wounding several Ukrainian servicemen. Russia argued that they were in Russian waters. However, 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 are considered to be the “internal waters” of both Russia and Ukraine.