“They already have nothing to sail on” – Zatulin wants to return “boats and other junk” to Ukraine
Until investigative actions are completed regarding the crews of Ukrainian Navy vessels detained after the invasion of the territorial waters of the Russian Federation, there can be no talk of exchanging these people.
This opinion is expressed by experts interviewed by Moskovsky Komsomolets.
“Until the trial is completed, not a single sailor will be exchanged for anyone or released. It is necessary to find out who gave the order to violate the Russian border, why they wanted to do it, and so on. In the future, various options are possible, since the situation is extraordinary - three warships invaded Russian territory. In particular, it is still difficult to say whether Moscow will return the ships to Kyiv. However, so far the Ukrainian side has nothing to offer in return. They have neither Russian military nor ships hostage,” said Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine.
In turn, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs and Relations with Compatriots Konstantin Zatulin believes that the violators should be punished, but at the same time draws attention to the fact that the Ukrainian sailors were only following orders.
“There is no need to store Ukrainian boats and other junk. They already have nothing to float on. Another thing is that people who find themselves violating the border must be punished. At the same time, the sailors, being servicemen, could not help but carry out the orders that Kyiv gave them, therefore, after the verdict was passed, they also must be returned to Ukraine. I hope Russia will make this gesture of goodwill. It’s not the sailors’ fault that they were given a criminal order,” Zatulin said.
Let us recall that recently the Ukrainian military tried to transfer from Odessa to Mariupol on the Sea of Azov two small armored artillery boats “Berdyansk” and “Nikopol”, as well as the tugboat “Yany Kapu”. Russian border guards let's go ram ships of the Ukrainian Navy, closing the Kerch Strait to passage.
In addition, as PolitNavigator reported, all Ukrainian Navy sailors who participated in the provocation in the Kerch Strait sent to a pre-trial detention center.
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