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MOSCOW – Russia has rejected Western condemnation of the capture of three Ukrainian navy ships and their crews, and on Tuesday initiated legal proceedings against some of the 24 detained sailors.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has been preparing to impose martial law in 10 of the country's 27 regions after its leaders warned of the threat of a Russian attack. Russian officials, however, rejected Kiev's response as a political alarmism and expressed confidence that Moscow would defeat criticism and threats of harsher sanctions.
The United States and the European Union have called on Russia and Ukraine to exercise restraint after Sunday's maritime conflict in the narrow Kerch Strait between mainland Russia and Crimea, which Russia annexed to Ukraine in 2014.
A Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Alexander Grushko, interpreted Western calls for easing tensions as a sign that even Western officials believe that Ukraine also shares some of the responsibilities.
"It's a kind of recognition, of their teeth, that the Ukrainian side is also at fault, even from his point of view," Grouchko said on the sidelines of a conference in Berlin, according to the report. Interfax news agency. "From a military point of view, this incident has now completely run its course."
[[[[How the sea of Azov has become a flash point between Russia and Ukraine]
As another sign of Russia's resistance to Western pressure, a Russian-controlled Crimean court has ordered at least two detained Ukrainian sailors to remain behind bars until at least January 25, accused of illegally crossing the border, reported Russian media.
The US State Department on Monday called for the release of detained sailors and the return of Ukrainian vessels.
Russia's actions have indicated that the Kremlin is confident of a new flash point between Russia and Ukraine, which has been fighting separatists in two pro-Moscow separatist regions since 2014.
Sunday's incident and the aftermath have been equated with a "resolute resolution" on the part of Russia and Ukraine, said Moscow foreign policy badyst Vladimir Frolov.
While President Trump is largely silent and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko faces a negative reaction as a result of managing the crisis, Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to have managed to show his advantage in the region.
An officer of the Russian Federal Security Service escorts a Ukrainian sailor detained to a courthouse in Simferopol, Crimea, on 27 November. (AFP / Getty Images)
The Black Sea incident allowed Vladimir Putin to "test the West's reaction to whether the use of force could go unpunished and whether sanctions were still in effect," he said. Mr. Frolov. "It's not."
Sunday's incident occurred as three Ukrainian navy ships attempted to cross the Kerch Strait. Russia claims that Ukrainian sailors ignored the pilot's instructions to guide them through the strait and illegally entered Russian territorial waters.
The Kerch Strait is an essential artery for Ukraine. It allows ports in the industrial Southeast of the country to access shipping routes to Western Europe and Asia. While Russia and Ukraine agreed in 2003 on the joint control of the Strait and the adjacent Azov Sea, Russia has been in control since its annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Tension has increased in recent months after Russia's new bridge between Crimea and the mainland has limited the types of ships that can cross the strait.
Western officials said Russia was using its naval force in the Azov Sea to squeeze the Ukrainian economy. Russia denies these accusations and claims that it continues to abide by the 2003 agreement granting both countries full use of the Kerch Strait and the Azov Sea.
The areas of Ukraine where martial law was to come into force included the Azov Sea coast as well as its waters.
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