ROSTOV-ON-DON, November 17. /TASS/. Ukrainian warships, which were seized last year in the Kerch Strait, will be handed over to Ukraine at about noon on November 18 in the Black Sea neutral waters near Crimea’s Cape Takil, a source in law enforcement agencies of Russia’s Southern Federal District told TASS on Sunday.
"The ships are expected to be handed over in the neutral waters near Cape Takil at about noon on Monday," he said.
Earlier in the day, a spokesman for the Crimean border directorate of Russia’s Federal Security Service told TASS the ships would be handed over to Ukraine on November 18. According to the spokesman, in line with the agreements reached with Ukraine, three Ukrainian vessels - the Yany Kapu tugboat and small armored artillery boats Berdyansk and Nikopol - are being towed from the Kerch port to an agreed area of handover to the Ukrainian side.
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 the three Ukrainian ships were detained in the Black Sea, along with 24 Ukrainian sailors who were later charged with violating the border.
On September 7, 2019, Moscow and Kiev carried out a "35 for 35" exchange of detainees, which included the 24 Ukrainian sailors detained in the Kerch Strait.