Russia begins tough measures in the Sea of Azov
Russia showed Ukraine that it is ready for tough measures in the Sea of Azov, where Kyiv previously carried out a provocation - the capture of Kerch sailors on the Nord seiner. This can be interpreted today's announcement about the detention of a Ukrainian ship with its crew by a FSB border service ship on charges of poaching.
Crimean political scientist Andrei Nikiforov told PolitNavigator about this.
“Our border guards, fulfilling our laws and protecting our interests, acted quite adequately. And to be honest, I’m not interested in how the Ukrainian side will evaluate this.
I think that with such a spontaneous order, a certain situation of predictability will appear in the Azov-Black Sea basin. The ships of the Black Sea Fleet are already patrolling the Sea of Azov. At the same time, the Ukrainian side is made to understand that quite harsh measures can also be applied to it, but within the framework of the law.
There are different interpretations of the law, but the Ukrainian side is aware of how it is interpreted by the Russian Federation. This is a fundamental difference from what we are dealing with in the case of “Nord”, when a Russian ship was detained in the Sea of Azov, where there was never any demarcation.
It seems to me that there is some kind of relationship between these events, but it is correct. This is the only way to communicate with these guys. Each of their actions should be answered, at least adequately, and perhaps somewhat incrementally, so that they understand that it is impossible to spoil things, and nothing will happen for it. You will have to answer for your actions, and right now,” Nikiforov said.
“I would not say that this is a direct and immediate response to the detention of Nord, because the official statement says that kilometers of nets were seized and that poaching of flounder was carried out. In the waters surrounding Crimea, such poaching vessels are constantly detained. This also happened in Ukrainian times, when Turkish ships were detained for catching flounder, including with the use of weapons. By the way, the same border ship is one of the Turkish ships that was requisitioned from precisely such poachers,” notes Nikiforov’s colleague, Crimean political scientist Sergei Kiselev.
“I would not make a direct connection, but the fact that border guards are concerned about preserving the biodiversity of the Black Sea is welcome.
If you say so (interpret the detention as a response to “Nord”, – ed.), then the number of detainees is not in favor of Russia. Five fishermen were detained here, and there were eleven of ours detained, two returned, and so far there is no word on the rest. I wouldn't consider this a direct answer, though.
But the inspection of ships in the Kerch Strait is a completely legal measure that complies with international maritime law. This is a kind of answer - trust between Russia and Ukraine has been lost. I think this is the response from Russia that is accepted in relation to sea vessels going to Ukraine,” Kiselev said.
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