SBU suspects seven Russian servicemen of attack on Ukrainian sailors

"On February 16, 2019, under the procedural control of the Military Prosecutor's Office of the Southern Region of Ukraine and operative support from the seventh unit of the directorate of military counterintelligence of the Department of Counterintelligence of the SBU office in Odesa region, investigators of the SBU office in Odesa region, on the basis of the evidence collected, notified seven servicemen of the Russian Federation of the suspicion in committing crimes provided for in Part 2, Article 28, Part 2, Article 437 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine," he wrote.

Lysenko specified that the notices of suspicion had been approved for Commander of the Southern Military District, Colonel-General Alexander Dvornikov, Commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Alexander Moiseyev, as well as five border guards of the Border Service of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) for the Republic of Crimea.

The report notes that the servicemen are charged with involvement in the capture of Ukrainian sailors in the Kerch Strait on November 25, 2018.

Lysenko recalled that two days after these events, on November 27, 2018, the Military Prosecutor's Office of the Southern Region of Ukraine had approved notices of suspicion in committing crimes for eight Russian servicemen, in particular, Rear Admiral Sergei Stankevich, Vice Admiral Gennady Medvedev, Captain 1st rank Rusoyan Romashkin, Captain 1st rank Andrei Shein, Captain 2nd rank Alexei Shatokhin, Captain 2nd rank Alexei Salyaev, Captain 3rd rank Andriy Shipitsyn, and Captain 3rd rank Sergei Shcherbakov.

The pre-trial investigation established that all 15 servicemen of the Russian Federation, who have already been notified of suspicion, are involved in waging an aggressive war. In particular, they organized, co-ordinated and participated in the assault of Russian military vessels and other military officers of the Black Sea Fleet and the Border Service of the Russian Federation on Ukrainian vessels, wounding Ukrainian soldiers and capturing them along with military hardware.

On November 25, 2018, when a Ukrainian naval group of small armored artillery boats Berdiansk, Nikopol and tugboat Yany Kapu transited the Kerch Strait, Russian ships began dangerous maneuvers around the Ukrainian naval vessels in order to block them. In particular, the Russian border ship Don rammed the Ukrainian Navy tugboat Yany Kapu, causing significant damage to the vessel.

After the Ukrainian ships left the 12-mile zone, the Russian border vessel Izumrud, continuing to wage an aggressive war, fired artillery shells at the Ukrainian naval group, wounding three servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and damaging two Ukrainian vessels.

Small armored artillery boats Berdiansk, Nikopol and the tugboat Yany Kapu, as well as 24 Ukrainian servicemen, were seized by the military occupation authorities of the Russian Federation and remain in captivity.