KIEV, Ukraine �� Russia fired on Ukrainian warships and injured some of their crew members in a renewal of conflict between the former Soviet Union neighbors near the peninsula of Crimea that President Vladimir Putin annexed four years ago.
Ukraine said Russian warships opened fire Sunday on a group of its military vessels that had previously tried to enter the Kerch Strait. Six men were wounded as Russia "fired to kill," while three ships were captured, according to the Ukrainian navy. Russia said it used all necessary measures to stop Ukrainian vessels that had violated its waters and engaged in "dangerous maneuvers." Earlier it cut off access to the strait "for security reasons."
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko held an emergency Cabinet meeting and was in contact with the European Union and NATO over possible additional sanctions for what he called "criminal acts." He instructed the Foreign Ministry to inform the Group of Seven and the United Nations Security Council of what had happened.
Sunday's incident was one of the worst flare-ups since a 2015 truce in the Russian-backed attacks in Ukraine's easternmost regions. Russia's construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait �� the entrance to the Azov Sea �� limited ship traffic to Ukraine's freight port of Mariupol.
Facing re-election next year, Poroshenko can't afford to appear weak, even thought his navy is far smaller than Russia's. At the same time, Ukraine's supporters in the West have little enthusiasm for a new escalation of the conflict that broke out after protesters ousted the country's Kremlin-backed leader and demanded closer ties with the EU.
"We expect Russia to restore freedom of passage at the Kerch strait and urge all to act with utmost restraint to de-escalate the situation immediately," an EU spokesman said in a statement. NATO said separately that it's closely monitoring developments.
Russia's FSB said the three Ukrainian ships had been "detained" for violating the Russian border. It said the wounded sailors were treated and their injuries aren't life threatening.
Commenting on Facebook, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the events a "provocation," accusing Ukraine of setting it up to accuse Russia of aggression. Ukraine says it warned Russia in advance of the passage of its vessels and that they were fired on in neutral waters.
����
(Kudrytski reported from Minsk, Belarus and Arkhipov reported from Moscow.)
