UNIAN: We will not tolerate illegal capture of Ukrainian ships in Azov Sea, says Poroshenko

By UNIAN.

Published July 17, 2018 at 11:40 am

Russian President Vladimir Putin walks to take part in the opening ceremony of the road-and-rail Crimean Bridge over the Kerch Strait on May 15, 2018. Vladimir Putin inaugurated the 19 kilometres (12 miles) bridge consisting of parallel road and railway sections that link southern Russia to the Crimean peninsula which was annexed from Ukraine in 2014, a highly symbolic project he has personally championed. Built at a cost of 228 billion rubles ($3.69 billion), the new structure connects the southern Krasnodar region with the Crimean city of Kerch, spanning a strait between the Black Sea and the Azov Sea.

Photo by AFP

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said Ukraine will not tolerate the illegal capture of its and foreign ships heading to Ukrainian ports.

“We will not tolerate the illegal capture of Ukrainian and foreign ships moving toward Ukrainian ports, including Mariupol, aimed to stop the mining and smelting complex operating in [Ukrainian-controlled part of] Donbas,” the President told a Svoboda Slova [Freedom of Speech] talk show on Ukraine’s ICTV channel, answering a question on the situation in the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov, where Russians have drastically increased the number of inspections of Ukrainian vessels, the presidential press service said.