Russia returned three seized Ukrainian vessels after Kerch Strait incident
A look back at the handover of three Ukrainian Navy vessels that Russian forces captured in the Kerch Strait in November 2018.
What did it mean when Russia handed back three Ukrainian Navy vessels? On 19 November 2019, a day after the return was reported, the ships were again in Ukrainian hands, nearly a year after they were seized in the Kerch Strait.
According to reports dated 18 November 2019, Russia returned the three vessels, which it had taken during an incident in the strait the previous year.
The incident
The seizure dated from 25 November 2018. On that day the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) coast guard fired upon and captured three Ukrainian Navy vessels. The ships had attempted to pass from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov through the strait, on their way to the port of Mariupol.
As later described, it was the first time that Russian forces had openly engaged Ukrainian forces during the Russo-Ukrainian War.
The return
The handover on 18 November 2019 closed one chapter of the episode: the vessels that Russia had held since the 2018 incident were returned. The reports of the day described the move as part of the wider Russia–Ukraine relations and the Ukrainian crisis.
