Ukraine intends to request the closure of the Bosphorus strait for passage by Russian navy ships in connection with the Russian aggression against the Ukrainian military vessels in the Kerch Strait area, Ukraine's Naval Forces Commander Ihor Voronchenko has said.

"I am sure that the world community will nevertheless make a decision and recognize that aggression against the state of Ukraine was carried out ... In this regard, as per the norms of the Montreux Convention, specifically item 19, we will request the closure of the Bosphorus Straight so Russia appreciates violating norms of international law," Voronchenko said during a speech at the 2nd International Conference on Maritime Security in Kyiv on November 29.

As earlier reported, on November 25, Russian border guards detained the Yany Kapu tugboat and two small-sized Berdiansk and Nikopol armored artillery boats of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' Navy, sailing from Odesa to Mariupol via the Black and Azov Seas, near the Kerch Strait. The ships were convoyed to Kerch. Twenty-four Ukrainian military seamen are detained, from whom, according to various information sources, from three to six are wounded. In the course of the operation, the Russian Federation closed shipping on the Kerch-Yenikale Canal, attracted helicopters and combat aircraft.

The European Union and the foreign ministries of many countries have condemned Russian aggressive actions in the Azov and Black Seas against the Ukrainian ships. Kurt Volker, Special Representative of the U.S. Department of State for Ukraine Negotiations, and Pavlo Klimkin, Foreign Minister of Ukraine, said that there was nothing in the actions of the Ukrainian side in the Kerch Strait that could be regarded as a provocation.