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The Russian Coast Guard has detained an Ukrainian fishing vessel, YAOD-2015, involved in an illegal fishing near Russia’s Republic of Crimea.
After the detention, the vessel and its crew were moved to the port city of Sevastopol.
The Ukrainian side confirms the detention:
Meanwhile, in the Sea of Azov, the Russian Coast Guard has been continuing its constant checks of vessels moving to the Ukrainian ports. The Russian stance is caused by destructive Ukrainian actions in the region, the most notable of them are a detention of the Russian vessel “Nord” in Russian waters.
These fish were Ukranian fish trying to escape taxes and Ukranian authorities by illegally swimming across the border to Crimean waters without permission. Thes fish are criminals according to Ukranian law and should be extradited by Crimea.
I was asking myself just a few days ago, when I read that the Nord was still held detained by the Ukraine, how Russia would respond. Now I know.
Given the incident happened very recently, this is a swift and firm measure of Russia. And they have more options left to further escalate and ultimately disrupt all Ukrainian maritime traffic in the sea of Azov.
It is made perfectly clear to the Ukraine that those petty attempts to retaliate for Crimea are not taken well and to continue doing so will come with a heavy price tag.
Free Oleh Sentsov.