All the sailors are charged with the 'illegal crossing of the Russian territorial waters'

The “Supreme court” of the occupied Crimea considered the appeals of nine Ukrainian sailors captured in the Kerch Strait on November 25. Among them are captain of Berdyansk boat Roman Mokryak and sailor Viktor Bezpalchenko. Reporter Anton Naumlyuk posted this on Facebook.

All sailors are charged under part 3 of Art. 322 of the Criminal Code of Russia (illegal crossing of the state border, committed by a group of persons or an organized group or with the use of violence or with the threat of its use), which provides up to six years of imprisonment.

The court of the first instance arrested all servicemen until January 25, 2019; the supreme court of Crimea has just corrected a technical mistake having reduced the detention by one day. In other respects, the decision on the preventive measure remains the same.

As we reported earlier, 19 Ukrainian sailors claimed to be prisoners of war.

The Russian Navy attacked the Ukrainian vessels in the Kerch Strait in the Sea of Azov in November. The vessels were damaged, and the crews captured by the Russian special services. Ukraine and the Western governments consider the attack an act of aggression. The Ukrainian sailors were taken to a remand center in Crimea, and then in Moscow, charged with the 'illegal crossing of the Russian territorial waters'. All sailors deny their guilt, claiming they are prisoners of war.