https://www.greanvillepost.com/2018/11/25/russia-blocks-ukrainian-navy-from-militarizing-the-sea-of-azov/The Ukrainian government under the oligarch Petro Poroshenko is in election campaign mode. That is one reason why it is launching new provocations against Russia. Yesterday Ukrainian forces occupied a town within the neutral zone between the government controlled part and the rebel held Donetsk area. Today the Ukrainian navy sent a tug and two small gun boats, recently acquired from the U.S. Coast Guard, to pass through the Kerch Strait into the Sea of Azov.
When the ships entered Russian waters without announcing their intent, a Russian coast guard ship rammed and damaged the tug. The two gun boats escaped but did not pass the strait.With Crimea back in Russian hands the Kerch Strait is solely Russian territory. The Treaty on the Legal Status of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait, signed in 2003 by Russia and the Ukraine, provides that military ship entry into the sea is only allowed with mutual consent. Ukraine disputes the status of the sea in an arbitration court. (For a legal discussion of the case see 1, 2, 3.)
The Ukrainian government, urged on by the U.S., wants to establish a new military harbor in the Sea of Azov. Two of its navy ships, a rescue vessel and a tug, passed through the street on September 23. In October the Russian government warned that it will not allow any further militarization of the sea. Some U.S. hawks even want NATO ships to enter the Sea of Azov. The Sea of Azov has a maximum depth of 7 meters. Typical U.S. frigates have a draft of 10+ meters. What NATO or U.S. ship could even go there? As Russia firmly controls the sole entry point into the sea and can easily attack any ship in the Sea of Azov from within its borders the idea is incredibly stupid.
The Kerch Strait is now blocked by a large cargo ship the Russians anchored under the new Kerch bridge.
Another POV:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-russia-blocks-three-ukrainian-navy-ships-from-entering-sea-of-azov/?intcmp=notificationsThe portion of the Black Sea where the confrontation unfolded is a swirl of contested borders and disputed rights to access through the strait.
After annexing the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, Russia claimed territorial waters off the peninsula’s coast that Ukraine does not recognize.
Ukraine claims a right to patrol in the entire Sea of Azov under a treaty with Russia designating the sea as shared territorial water. The treaty was signed long before relations curdled after street protesters overthrew a pro-Russian leader of Ukraine in 2014.
Ukraine says Russia’s actions have violated the treaty, as well as the U.N. Law of the Sea, which should guarantee access through the strait. Russian officials said the Ukrainian ships were manoeuvring dangerously, requiring the strait to be temporarily closed for safety.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in a statement carried by Ukrainian media, came down on Ukraine’s side in the dispute. “NATO fully supports the sovereignty of Ukraine and its territorial integrity, including its rights to navigation in its own territorial waters,” said the statement, which was carried in newspaper Ukrainska Pravda.