Ukraine arrested foreign ships that entered the closed ports of Russia-annexed Crimea

Ukraine arrested or applied other restrictions to 15  the  foreign ship-owners who had played into the hands of Russian occupiers.

Oleg Slobodyan, Assistant to the Head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, said on Radio “Krym.Realii” that it concerned the ships, which had violated the legislation of Ukraine.

“If they (ships – Ed.) come into our maritime economic zone or enter Ukrainian ports, we take measures to restrict their further movement. We have already arrested or imposed other restrictions on 15 vessels. All those vessels have violated Ukrainian legislation by visiting Crimean ports,” Slobodyan said.

According to him, more than 940 foreign ships entered the ports of the annexed Crimea, but a significant part of them are Russian ships serving the closed ports.

“There are not so many foreign vessels that enter Crimean ports because sanctions are in force. Ship-owners worried about their reputation are in no hurry to accept invitations from local occupation authorities,” he added.

Instead, since the spring of 2018, Russian security forces have begun to detain and inspect ships heading to the ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk, which has greatly damaged the region’s economy.

Earlier, Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelyan said that as a result of Russia’s blockade Ukraine had already lost about 1 billion UAH.

EMPR

Photo credits: Google

Source: Obozrevatel