REUTERS
Ukrainian ports Mariupol and Berdyansk lost more than half of their cargo traffic and are forced to start layoffs.
Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan says two seaports in the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Berdyansk (the Sea of Azov) are forced to cut their working hours after Russia blocked the passage of vessels through the Kerch Strait connecting the Black and Azov seas.
"As we expected, Moscow is now manually handling the access of merchant ships to the Ukrainian seaports in the Sea of Azov," Omelyan wrote on Facebook Dec 5.
"I'm not even talking about freedom of navigation and free passage through the Kerch Strait," he wrote.
According to the minister, the two Ukrainian ports have lost more than half of their cargo traffic and are forced to switch to a four-day working week and start layoffs.
Omelyan says that 29 vessels are awaiting the green light to pass through the Kerch–Yenikale canal, while another 11 ships are moored to the berths in the ports.
Read alsoThrough Kerch Strait provocations, Moscow seeking to undermine international maritime law
"We're working with our allies in the anti-Russian coalition to return the occupied territories, release captured sailors and ships, restore international law, and put an end to the economic blockade of Ukraine's Azov Sea area," the minister said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on the morning of November 25, Russia blocked the passage to the Kerch Strait for the Ukrainian tugboat Yany Kapu and two armored naval boats Berdyansk and Nikopol, which were on a scheduled re-deployment from the Black Sea port of Odesa to the Azov Sea port of Mariupol.
The Ukraine Navy Command noted that the Russian side had been informed in advance of the intention to re-deploy the vessels in accordance with international standards to ensure the safety of navigation. The Russian coast guard ship "Don" rammed the Ukrainian tug, damaging the Ukrainian vessel. As the Ukrainian boats were heading back in the Odesa direction after being rejected passage via the Kerch Strait, Russian coast guards opened aimed fire on them.
Read alsoRussia partially unlocks Ukrainian ports in Sea of Azov – Omelyan
All 24 crew on board were captured and later remanded in custody for two months, charged with "illegal border crossing" (the sailors are facing up to six years in prison). Three crewmen were injured in the attack.
The Russian-controlled "court" in the occupied Crimea ruled to remand all 24 POWs in custody, after which they were transferred to Moscow-based Lefortovo and Matrosskaya Silence detention centers.