Ukraine demands that Russia immediately provide assistance to Ukrainian servicemen wounded in the Azov Sea and return them to their homes, as well as to return the seized Ukrainian military vessels, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said.

"Ukraine demands to provide urgent medical assistance to the wounded and to ensure their immediate safe return home. Ukraine also demands to return the captured navy ships and to compensate for the damage caused," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry expressed its strong protest to the Russian Federation in connection with the armed attack and capture of the Ukrainian Navy ships Berdiansk, Nikopol and the Yany Kapu tugboat, as well as the wounding and capturing of members of their crews.

"The attack on Ukrainian ships that was carried out during a sea crossing from the port of Odesa to the port of Mariupol, in accordance with the provisions of all effective multilateral and bilateral international treaties and navigation rules, is nothing but another act of armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, as defined, in particular, in Article 2 of the Charter of the United Nations and the provisions of UN General Assembly Resolution 29/3314 of 14 December 1974 on the definition of aggression. Russia has de facto expanded its military aggression against Ukraine to the sea," the statement said.

It notes that the Kremlin's criminal regime has today once again demonstrated that it will not stop its aggressive policy and is ready for any acts of aggression against the Ukrainian state.

"It is the Kremlin's regime who bears full responsibility for further aggravation of the situation in the Azov and Black Seas and for undermining the peaceful settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

In connection with the current situation, Ukraine urges its allies and partners to take all necessary measures to deter the aggressor, including by applying new and strengthening existing sanctions, as well as by providing Ukraine with military assistance to protect its territorial integrity and sovereignty within internationally recognized borders.

As reported, three Ukrainian vessels remain seized by Russian special forces in the Black Sea after fire was opened on them. Two Ukrainian boats Berdiansk and Nikopol were struck by enemy fire and stopped. The Yany Kapu tugboat was also forced to stop. At least six Ukrainian servicemen were wounded.

President Petro Poroshenko held a War Cabinet due to extraordinary events in the Azov Sea. Ukraine asked for a meeting of the UN Security Council to be urgently convened.

During an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defense Council, President Petro Poroshenko supported the proposal of the War Cabinet regarding the introduction of martial law in Ukraine and the submission of this proposal to the Verkhovna Rada.

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