Ukrainian border guards arrest fishing vessel flying Russian flag in Azov Sea

15:05, 26.03.2018 1 min read

A coastguard ship of the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service has arrested in the Ukrainian waters of the Azov Sea a fishing vessel flying the flag of the Russian Federation, with a crew of ten people on board.

"The vessel NORD was stopped 15 miles from the Obytichna spit. It was established during the inspection that it was registered in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. In addition, crew members violated the procedure for leaving the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. All of them had so-called passports of Russian citizens issued in the city of Kerch," the press office of the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service reported on Monday.

The vessel with the crew on board was arrested and tugged to the port of Berdiansk for further verification and procedural actions. The identity of the detainees will also be established. In addition, a trawl for fishing and five tonnes of seafood were found during the inspection of the vessel.