All 24 families of the Ukrainian sailors who were captured by Russian forces near the Kerch Strait in the Black Sea on November 25 have been UAH 100,000, or about US$3,570, each as one-time assistance.
This was the initiative of Ukraine's Ministry for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons, as a result of which the Cabinet of Ministers passed a resolution on December 5 to support the sailors' families, the ministry said on its website.
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Minister for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons Vadym Chernysh says that his ministry is constantly in contact with international humanitarian organizations and lawyers of the Ukrainian sailors.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Russia on November 25 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 of the plans to re-deploy the vessels in advance in accordance with international standards to ensure the safety of navigation. The Russian coast guard ship "Don" rammed the Ukrainian tugboat, 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. All 24 crew members on board were captured and later remanded in custody for two months, being charged with "illegal border crossing" (the sailors are facing up to six years in prison). Three crewmen were wounded in the attack. Russian-controlled "courts" in occupied Crimea ruled that all 24 detainees should be remanded in custody, after which they were transferred to the Moscow-based Lefortovo and Matrosskaya Tishina detention centers. All the 24 Ukrainian sailors have declared themselves to be prisoners of war.
