REUTERS
Relatives of the prisoners of war will receive the funds after their personal data has been verified.
Ukrainian Minister for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons Vadym Chernysh says the Cabinet of Ministers has decided to allocate UAH 100,000 (US$3,574) for each family of the 24 Ukrainian sailors captured by Russian security forces in the Kerch Strait on November 25.
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"The government has passed a resolution, which will be finalized within a few days. The Defense Ministry will transfer the personal data of all the prisoners of war... After that, the funds will be paid to their relatives and family members or legal representatives," he told journalists on December 5, after a government meeting. The official also added it would be a lump sum worth UAH 100,000 per family.
As UNIAN reported, three Ukrainian vessels were captured on November 25 by Russian forces at sea near the Kerch Strait, which is the only outlet to the Sea of Azov and controls access to two major Ukrainian ports. The two Ukrainian artillery boats and a tugboat were heading from Odesa on the Black Sea to Mariupol on the Sea of Azov. Twenty-four sailors were detained and "courts" in Russian-occupied Crimea ruled that they be detained for two months, pending trial. On November 29, the sailors were transferred to Moscow's Lefortovo and Matrosskaya Tishina prisons.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on December 4 instructed Chernysh to consider the allocation of UAH 100,000 for each family of the captured Ukrainian sailors.
The president also said he had instructed Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak to pay UAH 50,000 ($1,787) per family.