"We will show the whole world the Russian barbarism towards them," Voronchenko added in his comments to Channel 4, suggesting that more evidence of Russia's poor handling the boats could be coming soon. At the time of writing, Russia does not appear to have responded in any way to Voronchenko's remarks.

The exact extent of what the Russians removed from the three boats, and any damage they might have otherwise done to them, is unclear. For instance, pictures and videos show that the weapons on Berdyansk and Nikopol are clearly still in place, though reports say Russia kept the ammunition. Other notable external features, such as navigation radar antennas, also appear to still be in place.

It would certainly not be hard to see Russia seeking to undermine Ukraine's ability to put the boats back into service quickly. Russia's official position is that the Ukrainian vessels failed to make the proper preparations and follow appropriate instructions from Russian coast guard personnel while transiting the Kerch Strait last year, but the real reason for the incident appears to have been an attempt on the Kremlin's part to challenge Ukraine's ability to access the strategic Sea of Azov.

The Russians had already put additional restrictions in place regarding Ukrainian transits through the Strait after illegally seizing the Crimea region in 2014. This was in spite of a deal that Moscow and Kyiv cut in 2003 that was supposed to guarantee both countries could readily move in and out of the Sea of Azov.

The Kremlin also only agreed to release the ships in advance of the upcoming summit in Paris to discuss potential paths to ending the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. This meeting is scheduled to take place in Paris, France on Dec. 9, with French and German representatives also in attendance. Since seizing Crimea in 2014, Russian forces have also been actively supporting separatists, who are themselves heavily linked to Russia's intelligence services, in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region.

On the surface, returning the ships seems to be a goodwill gesture, but their apparent condition would seem to imply that Russia continues to be defiant in the face of sanctions and international criticism of its involvement in the fighting in Donbass, seeing itself as still having the stronger negotiating position. It's worth remembering that in May the United Nations' International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which is situated in Germany, ruled that Ukraine was the aggrieved party in the November 2018 skirmish and ordered Russia to immediately release the captured boats and sailors.