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Moscow court upholds extension of six Ukrainian sailors’ custody

Moscow’s Lefortovsky District Court earlier extended the custody of all arrested Ukrainian sailors until November 24

MOSCOW, August 16. /TASS/. The Moscow City Court has upheld a lower court ruling to extend the custody of six Ukrainian sailors detained in the Kerch Strait incident in November 2018, a court spokesperson told TASS.

"The Moscow City Court has upheld a lower court decision, rejecting an appeal to release six Ukrainian sailors - Denis Gritsenko, Andrei Drach, Vyacheslav Zinchenko, Mikhail Vlasyuk, Bogdan Golovash and Sergei Popov - from custody," the spokesperson said.

Moscow’s Lefortovsky District Court earlier extended the custody of all arrested Ukrainian sailors until November 24.

Kerch Strait incident

On November 25, 2018, three Ukrainian naval ships illegally crossed Russia’s border and tried to carry out some illegal actions in Russian territorial waters. They ignored legitimate demands to stop issued by vessels belonging to the FSB Border Service and the Black Sea Fleet, and continued maneuvering dangerously. In order to stop the Ukrainian ships, weapons had to be used. The three vessels were detained in Russian territorial waters.

A criminal investigation was opened into the border incident. The Ukrainian ships’ crew members were taken into custody. They are charged with violating the Russian border under Article 322.3 of the Russian Criminal Code and may face up to six years in prison if found guilty.