Photo taken on Nov. 26, 2018 shows the United Nations Security Council holding an emergency meeting on the situation on Russia and Ukraine at the UN headquarters in New York. UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo on Monday urged both Russia and Ukraine to step away from further confrontation at sea. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)
MOSCOW, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Tensions flared up in the Kerch Strait after Russia seized three Ukrainian naval ships which allegedly breached the Russian border, while Kiev denied Moscow's "provocation" allegations.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) confirmed on Monday that Ukrainian Navy's "provocative" actions were devised by Kiev.
"The provocation was coordinated by two officers of the Security Service of Ukraine, seconded to the crews of military boats," the FSB said in a statement.
The security service also confirmed that Russian forces opened fire and seized three Ukrainian naval ships in Russia's territorial waters in the Black Sea after they violated the Russian border.
In a separate statement, the FSB said that Kiev did not inform Russia of the Ukrainian naval ships passing through the Kerch Strait in advance as requested and ignored multiple warnings by the Russian border guards.
Russia's missile defense command decided to carry out preventive shooting after the border agencies had "exhausted all the measures necessary" to prevent violations of the Russian laws by the Ukrainian naval ships, the FSB said.
According to the FSB, the Russian side detected the Ukrainian ships approaching the Russian border and informed them twice of the border crossing rules and navigation rules through the Kerch Strait, which stipulates filing a request 48 hours and 24 hours in advance and confirming it four hours in advance.
In response, the commanders of the Ukrainian ships at first denied having planned to cross the Russian border or pass through the Kerch Strait, but later claimed that they "have the right to freedom of navigation" in accordance with a bilateral treaty signed in 2003.
Ukraine has accused Russia of "aggressive actions" in the Sea of Azov after Russia inaugurated a bridge over the Kerch Strait earlier this year and started inspecting commercial ships sailing through the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait.
Moscow rejects such accusations, saying Russia can exercise its sovereign rights in nearby waters off Crimea and the Kerch Strait is not an international passage.
Relations between Russia and Ukraine have been deteriorating since Crimea was incorporated into Russia in March 2014 following a local referendum that was rejected by Kiev and Western countries.
The latest developments of the Kerch Strait incident are likely to further drive up tensions, which in turn could lead to a larger military confrontation, observers said.
The Ukrainian parliament on Monday supported a bill imposing a martial law in certain regions of the country for 30 days starting Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. local time (0700 GMT).
Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier in the day that Ukraine's actions were "a well-thought-out provocation" aimed at inciting regional tensions and creating a pretext for tougher sanctions against Russia.
Echoing the ministry's remarks, Russian experts noted that the Ukrainian actions gained immediate support from Western countries, which are looking for fresh excuses to impose new sanctions on Russia.
"It is very difficult to prove that Russia intervened in elections in the United States and other places, while such an action is very clear. This option as an excuse to increase the sanctions pressure on Russia will pass," said Andrei Suzdaltsev, deputy dean of the Faculty of World Economy and World Politics of the Russia-based Higher School of Economics.
