KYIV – Ukraine argued during a hearing at the United Nation’s International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg, Germany, on May 10 for the release of 24 military crewmen and three vessels that Russia impounded in shared waters six months ago.
Joined by an international team of lawyers and experts, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Olena Zerkal argued that Moscow violated the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea when its naval forces detained the 22 Ukrainian sailors and two Security Service officers who were aboard three vessels in the Black Sea on November 25 en route to Mariupol from Odesa.
Russia did not attend the hearing, and a ruling is expected later this month.
The Kremlin still maintains that the vessels and crew violated Russia’s “territorial waters” despite bilateral and international treaties in place that allow for “immunity” of passage, Ms. Zerkal argued.
After forcibly annexing the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in March 2014 and subsequently invading the Donbas regions of Luhansk and Donetsk the following month, Russia has begun to slowly restrict shipping in shared waters of the Azov and Black seas.
After Russia finished building a bridge that connects mainland Russia with Crimea in May 2018 – a move that Kyiv protested and for which it was sanctioned by the U.S. and the European Union – and its naval and border guard vessels have harassed ships coming to and leaving the Azov Sea ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk.
“In accordance with Article 33 of the U.N. statute, we gave Russia all possibilities to resolve the conflict via diplomatic channels,” Ms. Zerkal said in Hamburg.
Moscow still holds more than 100 Ukrainian political prisoners in Crimea and Russia, according to the advocacy groups Memorial and the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group.
Ms. Zerkal of Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said she was surprised at Russia’s refusal to participate in the May 10 hearing after a pre-trial telephone discussion took place between the supposed Moscow delegation and the tribunal’s president 17 days earlier.
“Russia’s decision to decline participation in oral hearings is disappointing,” she said.
The 24 crewmen are currently being held in Lefortovo prison in Moscow, according to the Ukrainian diplomat.
She added: “We have worked on many international platforms to make Russia comply with its international legal obligations. But we were unfortunately unable to achieve a positive result after a few months of exhausting work. Therefore, we did not have a choice and were forced to resort to court procedures for resolving the dispute.”
To view the proceedings in the case, go to https://www.itlos.org/en/cases/webcast/webcast-archives-case-no-26/.