(3 Dec 2018) Russia has blocked passage through the Kerch Strait, a narrow body of water nestled between Crimea and the Russian mainland, after three Ukrainian navy ships made what the Russian coast guard has called an unauthorized crossing through Russian territorial waters.
The move comes after months of growing tensions between Ukraine and Russia, which annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has steadily worked to increase its zone of control around the peninsula.
The Kerch Strait is the only passage into the Sea of Azov beyond it.
The strait is crossed by the recently completed Kerch Bridge, connecting Crimea to Russia.
Transit under the bridge has been blocked by a tanker ship, and dozens of cargo ships awaiting passage are stuck.
The incident began on November 25th after the Ukrainian navy claimed a Russian coast guard vessel rammed a Ukrainian navy tugboat, which was travelling with two Ukrainian navy artillery boats from Odessa on the Black Sea to Mariupol in the Sea of Azov, via the Kerch Strait.
The statement added that Russia had been informed in advance about the planned transit.
Russia's Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, told Russian news agencies November 25th that the Ukrainian ships held their course and violated Russian territorial waters, which were temporarily closed.
The FSB accused the Ukrainian navy of staging a provocation against Russia.
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Two of the three Ukrainian ships involved in an incident with the Russian coast guard were seen moored at a harbour in Kerch, Crimea on November 26th.
The Ukrainian parliament is set to consider a presidential request for the introduction of martial law in Ukraine following an incident in which Russian coast guard ships fired on Ukrainian navy vessels.
Ukraine's navy said six Ukrainian seamen were wounded when Russian coast guards opened fire on three Ukrainian ships near the Kerch Strait and then seized them on November 25th.
The two nations traded blame over the incident that further escalated tensions that have soared since Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and backed a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine said its vessels were heading to the Sea of Azov in line with international maritime rules, while Russia charged that they had failed to obtain permission to pass through the narrow Kerch Strait separating Crimea from the Russian mainland.
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Ukrainian soldiers were digging trenches on the frontline on November 28th as the latest crisis between Ukraine and Russia showed no signs of abating.
The trenches were being put in place in Shyrokyne near the disputed Kerch strait between Russia and the annexed Crimean peninsula.
The strait links the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov and is where Russia has built a long new bridge - the only land link between Crimea and the Russian mainland.
Russia fired on three Ukrainian ships in the strait Sunday and seized their crews.
Shyrokyne is a seaside town 10 kilometres (6 miles) from the strategic port city of Mariupol that Ukraine wants to defend from Moscow-backed rebels at all costs.
Ukraine fears the fall of Mariupol would give the rebels a land corridor between mainland Russia and the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula.
Shyrokyne has changed hands repeatedly throughout the conflict.
The scaling up of fortifications in the town followed Ukraine's decision to impose martial law in the wake of the ship seizures.
Ukraine insists the vessels were operating in line with international maritime rules.
Russia says they had failed to get permission to pass through a Russia-controlled area.
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