MOSCOW – Some of the Ukrainian sailors jailed in Russia after the last fall’s incident in Kerch Strait have been allowed to make a phone call to their families, the defense team’s coordinator Nikolai Polozov told Interfax.
“We don’t know yet how many were allowed to make a phone call. But I can say that today three already called their families. I don’t know what they talked about, but the relatives were happy,” Polozov said.
The defense team intends to secure permission to call home for all of the 24 arrested sailors, he said.
“The big day, Easter, is coming soon, and I am sure that the sailors themselves and their relatives would be happy to hear one another on the eve of the festival,” Polozov said.
Overall, the inquiry is proceeding without delay, he said.
“Another test, a situational one, is due to be carried out. This is where experts are to assess the totality of actions [during the incident] by both sides from the perspective of applicable national and international legal acts,” Polozov said.
On April 17 Lefortovo district court extended the custody period for all the sailors until July 24 and 26. Their lawyers have already appealed against this ruling.
On Nov. 25, 2018, Russian border guards used weapons to stop three Ukrainian naval vessels, the Yany Kapu tug and the Berdiansk and the Nikopol armored gunboats, which were traveling from Odesa to Mariupol in the Kerch Strait. The vessels were escorted to Kerch.
Courts in Simferopol and Kerch remanded the 22 sailors and two Ukrainian Security Service officials in custody. In late November they were transferred to Moscow.
The Ukrainians are charged with “conspiracy by a group of persons or an organized group to illegally cross the border using violence or the threat to use violence.” If found guilty, they could face up to six years in prison.
Kyiv calls the detained sailors prisoners of war.
The arrestees include the captain of the Yany Kapu tug Oleh Melnychuk, commander of the gunboat Nikopol Bohdan Nebylytsia, commander of the gunboat Berdiansk Roman Mokriak, commander of the logistics vessel battalion of the Ukrainian Southern Naval Base Volodymyr Lisoviy, Ukrainian Security Service officers Andriy Drach and Vasyl Soroka, crewmembers Denis Hrytsenko, Yuriy Bezyazychny, Viacheslav Zynchenko, Yevhen Semydotsky, Andriy Shevchenko, Andriy Oprysko, Serhiy Tsybizov, Yuriy Budzylo, Volodymyr Tereshchenko, Vyktor Bespalchenko, Volodymyr Varimez, Mykhailo Vlasiuk, Bohdan Holovash, Serhiy Chuliba, Vladyslav Kostyshyn, Serhiy Popov, Andriy Artemenko and Andriy Eider.
The period of the preliminary investigation has been extended until August 25 at the moment. The investigative actions in the case could be concluded before the end of summer, Polozov told Interfax.
