Russia does not take any steps which would show its readiness to set the Ukrainian sailors free, detained in the Kerch Strait in November 2018.
This was stated by the U. S. state Department special representative Kurt Volker during the briefing, as the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency reports.
"On the sailors. Unfortunately, we have heard nothing from Russia to indicate they are considering their release," he noted.
Volker underlined that Ukrainian sailors are still imprisoned illegally and they should be released unconditionally.
As we reported earlier, on November 25, 2018, Russian border guards seized the Ukrainian Yana Kapu raid tug and small armored artillery boats Berdyansk and Nikopol of the Naval Forces of Ukraine in the Kerch Strait area, using weapons.
As a result of the incident, 24 Ukrainian sailors were detained and arrested. They were transported from Crimea to the Moscow Lefortovo detention facility. In addition, three Ukrainian sailors wounded during the shelling by the Russians were transferred to the Prison Hospital.
