The decision of the Arbitral Tribunal in the case concerning the rights of a coastal state in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, and the Kerch Strait confirms the Russian Federation's disregard for the norms of international law, and its attempts to impose the consequences of criminal aggression on the world as a new reality do not and will not have international legal recognition, according to a commentary by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine published on its website on Monday.
"In its final Award, the Arbitral Tribunal did not find that the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait constitute a so-called "Russian lake". Instead, it confirmed their status as internal waters of two States – Ukraine and the Russian Federation Ukraine remains a coastal State in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, and the Kerch Strait and retains all sovereign rights vested in it under international law. No unlawful unilateral actions taken by Russia after 2022 have altered this legal reality," the Ukrainian foreign ministry noted.
According to the MFA, the case was initiated by Ukraine on September 14, 2016, due to the Russian Federation's violation of its obligations under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in the maritime areas adjacent to the coast of Crimea in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, and the Kerch Strait since 2014. On April 22, 2026, the Arbitral Tribunal, constituted under Annex VII of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, rendered its award on the merits.
"The Arbitral Tribunal further found that the Russian Federation breached its obligations under the UNCLOS by failing to conduct an adequate environmental impact assessment in connection with the construction of the so called "bridge", the laying of the power cables, and the gas pipeline and by failing to ensure proper notification and publication of the results of such assessment. These omissions constitute breaches of Russia's obligations of due diligence and cooperation in the protection and preservation of the marine environment," the statement reads.
