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Navigation in Kerch Strait back to normal, says head of Crimean Sea Ports

The Treaty on the Legal Status of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait, signed in 2003, confirmed their status as domestic waters of Russia and Ukraine

© Sergei Malgavko/TASS

Navigation via the Kerch-Yenikale canal in the Kerch Strait works is back to normal, Alexei Volkov, General Director Crimean Seaports, told reporters on Monday.
"Navigation via the Kerch-Yenikale canal has been restored... flows as usual," he stated.

Volkov previously said that restrictions on vessel entry through the Kerch Strait, imposed because of the Ukrainian Navy’s standoff, had been lifted.

Read also

Passage through Kerch Strait open for civilian vessels after Ukraine standoff

There were earlier reports that three Ukrainian warships, namely the Berdyansk, the Nikopol and the Yany Kapu, had illegally crossed Russia’s state border early on Sunday, before making another attempt at violating the country’s territorial waters later in the evening, according to the Russian Federal Security Service’s Border Service in Crimea. The Ukrainian vessels ignored valid demands by the Coast Guard of the FSB Border Service and the Black Sea Fleet to immediately halt, and stop performing dangerous maneuvers. An armed response had been used in order to stop the Ukrainian ships, which were detained in Russia’s territorial waters. Criminal proceedings have been initiated on violating the state border of the Russian Federation.
The Treaty on the Legal Status of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait, signed in 2003, confirmed their status as the domestic waters of Russia and Ukraine. The parties agreed on the joint usage and protection of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait and introducing restrictions for vessels belonging to third countries.

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