The Conflict in the Sea of Azov

On November 25, 2019, Russia resorted to open aggression in the Sea of Azov during the passage of three Ukrainian naval vessels from Odesa to Mariupol. A Russian border guard ship rammed a Ukrainian military harbor tug. The Russians then fired on the Ukrainian vessels, wounding 3 sailors. As a result, the Kremlin took 24 sailors prisoner and seized 3 Ukrainian vessels.

The situation led to martial law being imposed in 10 regions of Ukraine from October 27 to December 26.

Later, a so-called "court" in Crimea remanded all the detained Ukrainian servicemen in custody on charges of "illegal border crossing". After some time, all the Ukrainian sailors were taken to a pre-trial detention center in Moscow. There the Ukrainians declared themselves prisoners of war. They were released more than half a year later, on September 7, 2019.