Russian jet fighters fly over a bridge connecting the Russian mainland with the Crimean Peninsula after three Ukrainian navy vessels were stopped by Russia from entering the Sea of Azov via the Kerch Strait in the Black Sea, Crimea November 25, 2018. REUTERS/Pavel Rebrov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has reopened the Kerch Strait near Crimea to shipping after it seized three Ukrainian naval ships nearby, the RIA news agency cited a port official as saying on Monday.

Russia blocked the strait off the coast of Russia-annexed Crimea on Sunday and seized two small Ukrainian armored artillery vessels and a tug boat, which Moscow said had illegally entered Russia’s territorial waters.