Russia To Close Parts Of Black Sea For Six Months
Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published April 16, 2021 | 07:07 PM
Russia will restrict the navigation of foreign military and official ships in parts of the Black Sea until October, a Russian news agency reported Friday, a move likely to further raise tensions with Ukraine and its Western allies
Moscow, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Apr, 2021 ) :Russia will restrict the navigation of foreign military and official ships in parts of the Black Sea until October, a Russian news agency reported Friday, a move likely to further raise tensions with Ukraine and its Western allies.
Tensions between Moscow and Kiev have escalated in recent weeks following an uptick in fighting between Ukraine's army and pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Russia has massed its troops along Ukraine's northern and eastern borders and on the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. This week Russia also conducted navy drills in the Black Sea.
"From 21:00 on April 24 until 21:00 on October 31, passage through the territorial sea of the Russian Federation for foreign military ships and other state vessels will be halted," the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited a defence ministry statement as saying.
The restrictions will affect the western tip of Crimea, the peninsula's southern coastline from Sevastopol to Hurzuf, and a "rectangle" off the Kerch peninsula near the Opuksky Nature Reserve.
The final area is near the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov and is of crucial importance for the export of grain and steel from Ukraine.
The Kerch Strait became a scene of confrontation in 2018 after Russia seized three Ukrainian ships there over alleged violations of its territorial waters.
Ukraine had been free to navigate the Kerch Strait along with Russia until 2014, when Moscow claimed full control of the waterway after annexing Crimea.
The Kerch Strait is also the site of a costly 19-kilometre (12-mile) bridge connecting Crimea with mainland Russia that Moscow opened in 2018.
Ukraine's foreign ministry on Thursday slammed the navigation restrictions, which were initially reported without specifics earlier this week, as a "usurpation of the sovereign rights of Ukraine".
It also stressed that under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, "Russia must neither obstruct or halt transit through the international strait to ports in the Sea of Azov".
Recent Stories
Firefighters battle Copenhagen blaze for third day as facade collapses
Biden to receive Kennedy family backing against RFK threat
Stock markets rise as traders consider US rate outlook
Prime Minister Azad Jammu and Kashmir Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq congratulates Amir M ..
Jail terms sought for accused in $1.8 bn Malaysian fund fraud
Parvez Elahi's indictment delayed again in two cases
Business community alarmed by alleged Cigarette tax violations
Iran-Pakistan ties strengthen amid economic and regional cooperation: Ambassador
KP CM condemns killing of custom officials in Dera
Google fires 28 workers protesting contract with Israel
Sindh Tourism Minister calls on Governor
High FED on cigarettes demonstrates positive impact
More Stories From World
-
Firefighters battle Copenhagen blaze for third day as facade collapses
19 minutes ago -
Biden to receive Kennedy family backing against RFK threat
19 minutes ago -
Jail terms sought for accused in $1.8 bn Malaysian fund fraud
19 minutes ago -
Google fires 28 workers protesting contract with Israel
21 minutes ago -
France's Macron to meet Lebanon PM in Paris Friday: French presidency
22 minutes ago -
Croatian parties scramble to form government in hung parliament
21 minutes ago
-
Maldives court frees jailed ex-president Yameen
21 minutes ago -
UN chief warns Mideast on brink of 'full-scale regional conflict'
21 minutes ago -
Germany arrests two over military base attack plot for Russia
21 minutes ago -
Israel bombs Gaza as West sanctions Iran drones over attack
19 minutes ago -
Ukraine has 'critical need' for air defence: NATO chief
1 hour ago -
Two schoolgirls wounded in knife attack in France: officials
1 hour ago