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Russia has no plans to deploy naval base in Sea of Azov — diplomat

The Russian Federal Security Service reported on November 25 that three Ukrainian warships had violated the Russian state border

VIENNA, November 26. /TASS/. Russia has no plans to deploy a new naval base in the Sea of Azov, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Alexander Lukashevich said on Monday.

"As a matter of fact, Russia has no plans to deploy a new naval base in the Sea of Azov. The forces and weapons deployed there are adequate to the task of ensuring protection of the Crimean bridge," he said at a special session of the OSCE Permanent Council.

"As a rule, it takes no more than three hours to check Ukrainian vessels passing the Kerch Strait. Such check is a lawful right of Russian border guards and is aimed to ensure security in Russia’s territorial waters amidst threats coming from Ukrainian radicals who promised to blow up the Crimean bridge," he said.

He noted that over the recent months Kiev, backed by Washington, has been persistently whipping up tensions around alleged militarization of the Sea of Azov. "Our country has been repeatedly accused without any grounds for that, as is in the West’s habits now. It has been done in order to invent another fake ‘scare story’ about Russia," he said.

"The aggravation of the situation in the Azov-Kerch area is part of the current Kiev regime’s strategy of struggling for power and is geared to divert attention of Ukraine’s population from domestic political problems," he added.

Kerch Strait incident

In violation of the rules of passage via Russia’s territorial sea and the Kerch Strait, three warships of the Ukrainian Navy crossed Russia’s state border on November 25. The Russian side had to use weapons to compel the ships to stop. Three Ukrainian servicemen were lightly wounded. They received medical assistance. The ships were detained and escorted to the port of Kerch. A criminal case was initiated on border violation charges.

The Russian side described the incident as a provocation.