Kerch Strait incident

Overview

The Kerch Strait incident was an international incident that occurred on 25 November 2018 in the Kerch Strait, during which the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) coast guard fired upon and captured three Ukrainian Navy vessels after they attempted to transit from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov through the strait on their way to the port of Mariupol. It was the first time that Russian forces had openly engaged Ukrainian forces during the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Kerch Strait incident marked a significant escalation in the Russo-Ukrainian War as the first instance of Russian forces openly engaging Ukrainian forces since the conflict began in 2014. Russian FSB coast guard vessels fired upon and seized three Ukrainian Navy ships attempting a transit from the Black Sea through the Kerch Strait into the Sea of Azov toward Mariupol. Prior to this, Russian military involvement had operated with varying degrees of deniability; the incident removed that ambiguity at the operational level. The seizure of the vessels placed Ukrainian naval access to the Sea of Azov and the port of Mariupol in direct jeopardy, highlighting the strategic leverage Russia held over the strait following its annexation of Crimea.