MOSCOW. April 28 (Interfax) - The Russian Foreign Ministry has warned national shipping companies that their vessels could be taken over by Ukrainian law enforcement agencies.
"Given the provocative actions of the Ukrainian authorities in regard to Russian ships and citizens, the Russian Foreign Ministry calls the attention of shipping companies to the real risk of pirate takeovers of Russian transports by Ukrainian law enforcement agencies," the commentary "On Threats to Russian Shipping Operations Posed by the Ukrainian Authorities" published on the ministry website said.
"The number of illegal detentions of Russian ships by the Ukrainian authorities has increased lately. The Ukrainian State Border Service illegally detained the Russian Nord fishing ship and its crew in the Sea of Azov on March 25, and MV Trans Services Maritime was placed under arrest two weeks later," the statement said.
On April 25, the Ukrainian government backed the Infrastructure Ministry's initiative and prohibited ships flying the Russian flag or owned by companies registered in Russia, as well as any other ships irrespective of what flag they fly if they had visited seaports of Crimea and Sevastopol from transiting and transporting cargo via Ukraine, the ministry said.