By Giwa SHILE
Ukraine has urged the international community to prevail on Russian to release the detained Ukrainian vessels and 24 crew members seized by Russian military in November 2018.
TBI Africa said the Ukrainian Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Valeiri Aleksandruk, made the call while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
Aleksandruk said Russia seized three Ukrainian naval ships off the coast of Russia-annexed Crimea after opening fire on them and wounding several sailors, a move that could ignite new crisis between the two countries.
The envoy said refusal of Russia authority to release the captured crew members was a violation of human rights.
He added that Ukraine had, however, been employing other diplomatic means to ensure the release of the crew members.
“Since April 29, 2018, Russia has engaged in a new campaign to interfere with Ukraine’s rights in the Sea of Azov.
“The Russian Federation has stopped more than 200 vessels bound for Mariupol or Berdyansk in the Kerch Strait or Sea of Azov.
“In many cases, the vessels have been subjected to multiple stoppages on their way to and/or returning from these ports, resulting in significant delays and attendant economic losses,” he said.
According to him, the Russian Federation’s discriminatory stoppages of vessels bound for Ukraine’s Sea of Azov ports are inconsistent with Russia’s fundamental obligations under UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
“This has resulted in significant costs not just to Ukraine, but also to the crews, owners, and flag States of the vessels that Russia has harassed,” he said.
Speaking further on the situation in Crimea and the city Sevastopol Aleksandruk said UN General Assembly had also condemned the arbitrary arrests, detentions, disappearances, searches, violence and ill-treatment of activists in the area.
He said this had become an everyday reality in what had been until recently a peaceful and stable Ukrainian autonomous republic.
He said that UN General Assembly had on Dec. 22, 2018, adopted the resolution “Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine”.
According to him, the General Assembly points out that the overall human rights situation on the Ukrainian peninsula is sharply deteriorating.
He noted with concern that in spite of the urges by the international community, the Russian Federation continued to blatantly violate its obligations as an occupying power.
He said that the UN condemned Russia’s non-compliance with the provisions of the previous General Assembly resolutions 71/205 and 71/190 adopted in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
The envoy said: “the resolutions call on all the states and international organisations to refer to Crimea as the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.
“The adoption of the resolution demonstrates once again the firm support of Ukraine by the international community.
“This is in spite of desperate attempts by Russia to block the resolution and allocation of financial resources for the monitoring of human rights situation on the peninsula.”
