Ukraine says Russia has "hit our tug" off Crimea

Ukraine accused Russia of having struck one of its ships off the coast of Crimea as naval tensions mounted.

A statement from the Ukrainian Navy indicates that "overtly aggressive actions" took place as three of its ships went to Mariupol in the Azov Sea.

Her tug, named Yana Kapu, reportedly sustained damage to the engine, guardrail and outer hull.

But Russia said the ships were in its waters and accused the Ukrainians of "acts of provocation".

The Azov Sea lies to the east of the Crimean Peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, and south of areas held by pro-Russian separatists.

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Russia said that Ukrainian ships – two warships named Berdyansk and Nikopol, as well as the tug – were trying to "create a conflict situation in this region".

The ships "illegally entered a temporarily closed area of ​​Russian territorial waters," the Russian state security service, the FSB, said in a statement.

But Ukraine said that she had informed the Russians of her intention to ship her ships by sea to Mariupol.

The Navy statement says that Russia's actions constitute a violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Tension has risen in the seas off the Crimea in recent months.

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While both countries have promised free access to the Azov Sea, Russia has reinforced its military presence and its inspections, calling some of its action an "economic blockade" of Ukrainian ports of Azov in the north. East of the country.

More than 10,000 people have died in the Donetsk and Luhansk region in the east of the country since the separatists opposed the Ukrainian state in April 2014.

Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula the previous month.

Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of sending its troops to the region and arming the separatists.

Moscow denies it, but admits that Russian "volunteers" help the rebels.