Three Ukrainian sailors who sustained injuries during the Kerch Strait incident and are currently staying in Matrosskaya Tishina prison in Moscow have recovered almost completely, Tatiana Potyaeva, the commissioner for human rights in Moscow, said on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2019) Three Ukrainian sailors who sustained injuries during the Kerch Strait incident and are currently staying in Matrosskaya Tishina prison in Moscow have recovered almost completely, Tatiana Potyaeva, the commissioner for human rights in Moscow, said on Tuesday.
During the Kerch Strait incident last fall, 24 Ukrainian sailors and security officers were detained by Russian authorities for illegally crossing the Russian border.
"They have recovered almost completely. One of them has an arm swollen still, but he expresses hope that he will recover completely in a couple of weeks," Potyaeva told reporters after visiting the sailors.
On November 25, three Ukrainian vessels illegally crossed the Russian maritime border as they sailed toward the Kerch Strait, the entrance to the Sea of Azov. The Russian authorities seized the ships and detained the Ukrainian servicemen who were on board.
Moscow has repeatedly slammed Kiev's attempts to portray the detained sailors as prisoners of war, stressing that they faced criminal charges. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the incident was a provocation prepared in advance as a pretext to declare martial law, which was announced after the incident and lasted for a month. Putin said the provocation could be linked to Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko's low approval ratings ahead of the presidential election, set to be held in March.
