The Ukrainian Navy has confirmed that Russian warships have opened fire on Ukrainian vessels. Reports state that Russian fire damaged small armoured artillery boats and injured sailors. Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council has proposed declaring martial law, council secretary Oleksandr Turchynov is quoted as saying by Ukrainian media. Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko convened a military cabinet for an emergency meeting, his spokesman Svyatoslav Tsegolko wrote on Twitter earlier.
Six sailors from Ukrainian Navy, were injured when a Russian ship fired near the Kerch Strait, a narrow sea passage close to the Crimean Peninsula which separates the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
The incident took place on Sunday morning when Russia stopped the three Ukrainian ships from entering the Sea of Azov via the Kerch Strait. Officials from both countries are accusing the other of provocative behaviour. Bilateral relations are still raw after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea and its backing for a pro-Moscow insurgency in eastern Ukraine.
