Intl Tribunal for Law of Sea obliges Russia to release three Ukrainian vessels, 24 sailors, return them to Ukraine

14:42, 25.05.2019 1 min read

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has made a decision obliging the Russian Federation to release three Ukrainian vessels and 24 Ukrainian sailors detained in the Kerch Strait in November 2018 and allow them to return to Ukraine.

President of the Tribunal Jin-Hyun Paik announced the award on the imposition of interim measures against Russia asked by the Ukrainian side in Hamburg (Germany) on Saturday, May 25.

The Russian Federation is required to immediately release the Ukrainian military ships Berdyansk, Nikopol and Yany Kapu tug and return them to Ukraine, he read.

A total of 19 judges voted in favor of this decision, one judge - Ruslan Kolodkin (the Russian Federation) voted against the decision.

Also, it was decided that "the Russian Federation is required to release the twenty-four detained Ukrainian servicemen and allow them to return to Ukraine."