Russian Coastguards Detain Ukrainian Fishing Boat off Crimea Coast

Photo from Ukrinform–UATV

Russian coast guards detained a Ukrainian fishing boat off the coast of annexed Crimea.

This was announced by Oleh Slobodian, assistant to the head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Ukrinform reported.

“The fact of the Russian border guards detaining the fishing boat YaMK-0041 is confirmed. At the moment, we know that the vessel had the fishing license, but within the 12-mile maritime zone. That is, the vessel for no apparent reason left the zone and was closer to the Crimean coast,” Slobodian said.

According to Slobodian, five people were on board; all of them are Ukrainian citizens.

Slobodian noted that the actions of the Russian coast guards are illegal, because Crimea is a Ukrainian territory, therefore, “if the vessel has committed certain violations while fishing, then it the responsibility of Ukraine to prosecute, not Russia.”

Today, information on the detention of the Ukrainian fishing vessel was released by the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB). It was noted that the vessel was detained west of Cape Tarkhankut, off the coast of Crimea, for the “illegal fishing of Black Sea turbots.”

The FSB claims that it seized illegal fishing gear, mostly several kilometers of nets. The five Ukrainian citizens were brought to Crimea for further procedural actions.

In April, it was reported that Russia can arrest Ukrainian fishing vessels in the Azov Sea.