MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/. Moscow’s Lefortovsky District Court has extended the arrest of eight out of the 24 Ukrainian sailors charged with violating the Russian border in the Kerch Strait, a TASS correspondent reported from the courtroom.
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"The court hereby upholds the investigation’s request to extend the arrest of Bogdan Golovash, Sergei Popov, Vladimir Tereshchenko and Andrei Shevchenko until April 24," Judge Sergey Ryabtsev said.
The court earlier extended the arrest of Roman Mokryak, Andrei Orpysko, Yevgeny Semidotsky and Sergei Tsybisov until the same date.
The court hearing took place behind closed doors, reporters were only allowed to hear the court announce its decision.
Kerch Strait incident
On November 25, 2018, three Ukrainian navy ships illegally crossed Russia’s border and tried to carry out some illegal actions in Russian territorial waters later in the day. 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, 24 Ukrainian nationals were arrested. They are charged with violating the Russian border under Article 322.3 of the Russian Criminal Code. If found guilty, they may face up to six years in prison.