Ukraine accuses Russia of seeking to illegally control strategic sea as arbitration hearings open
Ukraine has accused Russia of seeking to illegally seize control of the strategically important Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Ukraine on Monday accused Russia of seeking to illegally seize control of the strategically important Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait, as hearings opened in a high-stakes arbitration case between Kyiv and Moscow.
The hearings at the Permanent Court of Arbitration are the latest in a string of international legal cases involving Russia and Ukraine linked to Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, even as fighting continues to rage on battlefields in Ukraine.
“Russia wants to take the Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait for itself, and so it has built a great gate at the entrance to keep international shipping out while allowing small Russian river vessels in,” Ukrainian representative Anton Korynevych told a panel of arbitrators.
The gate he referred to is a bridge built by Russia across the Kerch Strait after the annexation of Crimea. The $3.5-billion, 19-kilometer (12-mile) bridge linking the Black and Azov seas carries road and rail traffic on separate sections and is vital to sustaining Russia’s military operations in southern Ukraine.
