KYIV. April 20 (Interfax) - Crewmembers of the fishing ship Nord who tried to leave Ukraine via the Hoptivka motor checkpoint in the Kharkiv region have not been detained but are still in Ukraine, a representative of the Russian embassy in Kyiv told Interfax on Friday.
"They are in the territory of Ukraine. They have not been detained," the representative said.
The Ukrainian State Border Service detained the Nord (home port Kerch) and its crew of ten on March 25. The sailors were prohibited from leaving the ship pending a court order.
The Kherson City Court put Captain Vladimir Gorbenko under arrest until May 31 and said he might be released on 35,240 hryvni (about $1,300) bail. Lawyers paid his bail. He was released on April 10 on the condition that he appear at the investigator's office every Monday.
The crewmembers were charged with crossing the border illegally, which is punishable by a fine of between 100 to 300 minimum monthly wages or up to 15 days of administrative arrest. The minimum monthly wage in Ukraine is 3,723 hryvni.
On April 7, Nord crewmembers unsuccessfully tried to leave Ukraine via the Hoptivka checkpoint in the Kharkiv region. "Representatives of the Russian consulate general tried to smuggle the crew out of Ukraine under the cover of their immunity," the Ukrainian State Border Service said.
New charges of "crossing or trying to cross the Ukrainian border in evasion of checkpoints or via checkpoints without proper travel documents or with travel documents containing incorrect information about their holders, or without the permission of relevant authorities" were brought against the sailors after the incident. The offense is punishable by a fine of between 100 and 200 minimum monthly wages or up to 15 days of administrative arrest.
Materials regarding the Nord crew were submitted to the Derhachi District Court in the Kharkiv region on April 12. The judge said there was not enough material to hear the case. The materials were sent back to the Derhachi branch of the State Border Service to be improved.
Two members of the crew managed to fly from Ukraine to Minsk on April 19. Ukrainian border guards later caught seven sailors at the airport.
Crimean regional administration head Sergei Aksyonov said on Thursday that two sailors had returned to Crimea from Ukraine.
"Two of our sailors are back in Crimea, but the other crewmembers are being held in Ukraine under a far-fetched pretext in violation of all international and humanitarian norms," Aksyonov said.
Moscow has demanded that Kyiv set the crew free and said that it reserves the right to retaliate.