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Ukraine’s bureau of investigations questions recently released sailors

According to the attorney, the sailors were summoned in relation to the case on "attempted seizure of power" by former President Poroshenko, and to the incident in the Kerch Strait in November 2018
Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) wikimedia.org/Dgho/CC BY-SA 4.0
Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations (SBI)
© wikimedia.org/Dgho/CC BY-SA 4.0

KIEV, September 13. /TASS/. Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) has started to question the Ukrainian sailors who recently returned to Ukraine from Russia within the framework of the September 7 prisoner swap, attorney Nikolai Polozov stated on Friday.

According to the attorney, the sailors were summoned by the SBI in relation to the case on "attempted seizure of power" by former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko, and in connection with the incident in the Kerch Strait in November 2018.

"SBI investigators have begun to question the recently released Ukrainian sailors on the 'Kerch Strait incident' case opened on the request of Portnov, former deputy chief of the administration of President Yanukovich," he wrote on Facebook.

In late May, Andrei Portnov, a former member of the Viktor Yanukovich team, first deputy chief of Yanukovich’s staff, said he had filed several statements at the SBI to accuse Poroshenko of committing several crimes, including high treason, attempt to seize power and abuse of office. According to Portnov, President Poroshenko declared martial law in the country in the wake of the Kerch Strait incident in order to stay in power, as it could have interfered with the upcoming presidential election in Ukraine.

On November 25, 2018, three Ukrainian warships, en route from Odessa to Mariupol, illegally crossed Russia’s state border, entered Russia’s territorial waters in the Kerch Strait and started performing dangerous maneuvers. Despite the repeated warnings and demands to stop, the Ukrainian vessels continued their way, forcing Russia to use weapons. All three Ukrainian ships were detained in the Black Sea, along with 24 Ukrainian sailors.

On September 7, Moscow and Kiev carried out a "35 for 35" exchange of detainees, which included the 24 Ukrainian sailors taken into custody in the Kerch Strait.