MOSCOW. Nov 26 (Interfax) - The crews of the Ukrainian boats detained near the Kerch Strait will stand trial, Federation Council Defense and Security Committee Chairman Viktor Bondarev said.
"The [Ukrainian Navy] ships were brought to Kerch. Their crews have been arrested and will stand trial, the captains and the personnel will be punished appropriately," Bondarev's press service quoted him as saying on Monday.
The Russian border guard detained 24 crewmembers of Ukrainian ships that were maneuvering dangerously near the Kerch Strait, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said earlier today.
The use of weapons against Ukrainian warships by Russia is absolutely legal, because they have violated the Russian state border, the Russian senator said.
"The Berdiansk, the Nikopol and the Yany Kapu have committed a crime, entering Russian territorial waters without any authorization. Any violation of the state border of a sovereign country poses a theoretical threat, which can and should be removed by undertaking every appropriate measure in the current situation. The Ukrainian ships were dangerous maneuvering and entered our territorial sea. It would be a crime not to respond to that," Bondarev said.
Ukraine's actions should be probed at the level of the UN Security Council, he said.
"I want to emphasize that Russia has done all it could to settle the situation peacefully. We have repeatedly warned the captains and the crews of the ships about their violation and notified them that they are in our territorial waters and they should leave the territory of Russia. However, they did not hear our calls, and undertook no actions to leave our territorial waters," he said.
Ukraine's actions are linked to the upcoming presidential election in that country, because "the provocation in the Kerch Strait will not be single," the Russian senator said.
"Most likely, we should expect provocations in [the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics] the DPR, and the LPR and other territories shortly," Bondarev said.