MOSCOW, December 3. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko’s statement about Russia allegedly planning to build a "corridor" from Donbass to Crimea is absurd, it is just another attempt to cause tensions, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, commenting on the Ukrainian leader’s words that Moscow is allegedly planning to seize Mariupol and Berdyansk.
"This statement is absolutely absurd, it is another attempt to somehow spark tensions. Unfortunately, it is clear that such attempts are likely to continue as the presidential election in Ukraine is nearing," he added, pointing out that "Russia has never seized anything, or laid any corridors."
"That’s why this is an absolutely ungrounded statement," the Kremlin Spokesman stressed.
The Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) convened a special meeting on November 26 with 276 lawmakers having voted in favor of martial law, surpassing the required minimum of 226 votes.
Kiev’s move to impose martial law across the Vinnytsia, Lugansk, Nikolayev, Odessa, Sumy, Kharkov, Chernigov, Donetsk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson Regions along with the country’s territorial waters in the Azov-Kerch water zone followed the Kerch Strait incident.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) reported on November 25 that the Ukrainian warships, the Berdyansk, the Nikopol and the Yany Kapu, had breached the Russian state border on Sunday morning and later attempted to carry out illegal maneuvers in Russia’s territorial waters later. The Ukrainian vessels ignored the legitimate demands of the Coast Guard of the FSB Border Service and the Black Sea Fleet to stop immediately and end their dangerous action. The Ukrainian warships carried on, blatantly disregarding these orders, triggered a chase involving some gunfire to stop them. Consequently, the ships were detained in Russian territorial waters.
Moscow branded Kiev's stunt in the Kerch Strait a dangerous provocation, while the European Union and NATO called for a de-escalation of tensions.