The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has sent a note to Russia with the request to state the place and time when Ukrainian military can pick up Ukrainian warships seized by Russia in the Kerch Strait last year, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko has said.

He said this at a joint briefing with Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu in Kyiv on Monday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"I did say that we are ready to pick up these ships. Moreover, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a note [to Russia] asking it to state the coordinates and time when we can pick up our ships," Prystaiko said.

He added that upon their receipt, he would like to verify if there were traces of shelling on the ships and whether a delay in the return of the ships was linked to them being repaired to hide those traces.

"There is no delay on our part here. Our military are ready to arrive at any point and take away our ships," Prystaiko said.

On November 25, 2018, Russian security forces fired on and seized three ships of the Ukrainian Navy off the coast of Russia-occupied Crimea. The ships - Berdiansk, Nikopol, and Yany Kapu – were heading from Odesa to Mariupol. Twenty-four Ukrainians were captured during the attack, and three of them were wounded.

On May 25, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ordered Russia to immediately release 24 seamen and three ships and allow them to return to Ukraine.

On September 7, Ukraine and Russia exchanged detainees in the 35-for-35 format. Twenty-four Ukrainian seamen returned home as part of the exchange.

At the same time, Russia did not return the seized vessels to Ukraine.

op