The Daily Star
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko Tuesday warned of the threat of “full-scale war” and said Russia had sharply increased its military presence on their shared border as tensions escalate between the ex-Soviet neighbors.
“I don’t want anyone to think this is fun and games. Ukraine is under threat of full-scale war with Russia,” the president said.
The number of Russian units deployed along the Ukraine-Russian border has “grown dramatically” while the number of Russian tanks has tripled, Poroshenko said.
He spoke after Russian forces seized three of Kyiv’s ships off the coast of Crimea Sunday and captured 24 Ukrainian sailors, sparking a new diplomatic crisis.
A court in Simferopol, the main city in Russian-annexed Crimea, Tuesday ordered 12 of the sailors to be held in pre-trial detention for two months. Three hospitalized sailors were also formally detained for two months. The rest are to appear in court Wednesday.
The move is likely to further stoke tensions between Moscow and Kyiv, as Russia continues to accuse the sailors of crossing illegally into Russian waters and of ignoring warnings from its border guards.
Kyiv has demanded the release of the sailors and urged Western allies to impose further sanctions on Moscow.
President Vladimir Putin warned Ukraine against any “reckless acts” after Kyiv declared martial law in response to Moscow’s move.
The Ukrainian Parliament Monday voted in favor of Poroshenko’s request for the introduction of martial law in border areas for 30 days. This gives Ukrainian authorities the power to mobilize citizens with military experience, regulate the media and restrict public rallies.
In a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel Tuesday, Putin expressed “serious concern” over its introduction. He said he hoped Berlin could intervene with Ukrainian authorities “to dissuade them from further reckless acts.”Moscow has accused Kyiv of planning Sunday’s confrontation as a provocation aimed at drumming up support for Poroshenko ahead of elections next year and convincing Western states to impose further sanctions on Russia.
Russian state television aired footage of some of the captured sailors being questioned by Moscow’s security services.
One of them is heard saying “the actions of the Ukrainian armed vessels in the Kerch Strait had a provocatory character” parroting the version of events put forward by Russian authorities.
Ukraine’s naval commander, Igor Voronchenko, said the sailors were pressured into giving false evidence.
“I know these sailors, they were always professional. What they are saying now is not true,” he told Ukrainian media.
Western governments have rallied behind Kyiv in the dispute, accusing Russia of illegally blocking access to the Sea of Azov and of taking military action without justification. The European Union, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and others expressed support for Kyiv, in statements pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia denounced as “predictably anti-Russian.”
The foreign minister of Austria, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said that the bloc will next month consider further sanctions against Moscow over the flare-up.
“Everything depends on the accounts of events and the actions of both sides. But it will need to be reviewed,” Karin Kneissl told reporters.
U.N. chief Antonio Guterres called for “maximum restraint,” urging both sides “to take steps without delay to contain this incident and reduce tensions.”