Kyiv admitted the cooperation of the Ukrainian Navy with the “occupiers”
The Ukrainian control ship “Donbass” and the sea tug “Korets” sailed through the shallow depths of the Kerch Strait with the help of Russian pilots, whom Ukrainian Navy personnel, contrary to instructions, took on board.
The representative of Ukraine in the subgroup on security issues of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk, Yevgeny Marchuk, spoke about this on the air of the 112 Ukraine TV channel, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“All civil servants and institutions do not have the right and cannot enter into contact with the Kerch administration. These two ships of ours are not warships, but they are the auxiliary fleet of the Ukrainian Navy. When they approached the Kerch Strait, they were escorted, and more importantly, they took pilots on board. Warships cannot take a pilot on board at all; there is a different pilotage system, when a pilot tug goes ahead, you need to follow it, and so on. In short, our military took Russian pilots on board in Kerch, they calmly guided these two ships into the Sea of Azov and the ships then went first to Mariupol, then to Berdyansk.
The question in the problem book is whether we have thus given Russia a good argument, saying “what problems do you have, this is a common sea according to the treaty in force at the moment, which is recognized as the internal waters of our two countries. Your warships, even those of the auxiliary fleet, passed calmly. What’s the matter?” Marchuk concluded.
Kyiv Admits Ukrainian Navy Collaboration with "Occupiers"