MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia will monitor the situation around the tanker Nika Spirit arrested in Ukraine, but it is up to the owner of the vessel to challenge the decision of the Ukrainian authorities, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said Tuesday.

"For us, the most important thing was to free the people. The sailors, our citizens, returned home long ago. The ship is privately owned, therefore, the court will decide everything. Of course, we will closely follow the situation, but this is less dramatic," Karasin said in an interview with Russia's Kommersant FM radio.

"We need to find out who the owner is. And the private owner has the right to challenge the decision of the Ukrainian authorities in court," he added.

Earlier on Tuesday,Ukrainian court authorized the arrest of the Nika Spirit tanker.

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) detained Nika Spirit in the port of Izmail in the Odessa region last week. Kiev claims that it used to be called NEYMA and it was allegedly involved in an incident in the Kerch Strait in November 2018 that led to Russia seizing three Ukrainian vessels.

Ten Russian crew members of the tanker have left Ukraine following their release from custody soon after the detention.