Bellingcat: the FSB contradicts itself – A "Berdyansk" boat was fired in international waters

The Taran boat "Yana Kapu", illustration / REUTERS

The intelligence company Bellingcat analyzed data published in the form of Ukraine, as well as Russia, concerning the incident in the Black Sea, which resulted in the seizure of Ukrainian ships and seamen by Russia, and which became the first time

According to Voice of America, the special envoy of the United States for Ukraine, Kurt Volker, pointed to one of the conclusions of the analysis, namely that the shooting "was probably taking place in international waters".

The company conducted a detailed analysis. all sources of information in open access and restoring the chronology of the events of 25 November.

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Differences in the declarations of the Ukraine and Russia, whether it is an incident in coastal waters near Crimea or in international waters. It should be noted that after the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia, Russia considers that these coastal waters are its own. However, Ukraine and most members of the international community do not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea and, therefore, the rights of Russia on these waters.

Bellingcat insists separately on the data provided by the Russian FSB with a detailed description of the events, including a number of geographical coordinates.

FSB states that the first interception and warning shots, as well as the "Berdyansk" shootings, took place in the "territorial waters of Russia". However, this does not correspond to the geographical data that they themselves have made public.

Unfortunately, the investigators claim that the data published by the Ukrainian side are not too detailed and can not clearly determine whether an incident in international waters has occurred. Bellingcat asked Ukraine to publish more accurate geographical data on the incident.

On the basis of open data analysis, the investigators reached the following conclusions:

• On the basis of a video whose geographical data are established, the Ukrainian vessels actually belonged to the waters claimed by Russia near Crimea and the Kerch Strait. Ukraine claims to have such a right in the Strait of Kerch in accordance with the 2003 agreement and does not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea.
• It can be argued that the Ukrainian boat "Yana Kapu" was deliberately fired at least four times for at least one hour.
• According to information from the Russian FSB, which seems to contradict itself, the shooting of "Berdyansk" probably took place in international waters.