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The international arbitration in The Hague suspended consideration of the merits of the lawsuit against the Russian Federation, which Ukraine brought for the seizure of ships and sailors in the Kerch Strait in November 2018. This is due to procedural problems.
The corresponding decision was published on the website of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
It is reported that in August 2020, Russia attempted to challenge the court’s jurisdiction in this case, as the dispute is related to military actions. In turn, the Ukrainian side demanded in September to combine the preliminary objections of the Russian Federation with the examination of the case on the merits and not to consider the question of jurisdiction at the preliminary stage.
As a result, the arbitration concluded that Russia’s objections should be considered precisely at the preliminary stage and suspended consideration of the case on the merits. The Ukrainian side must file a response to Moscow’s objection within three months, after which the judges will decide on further steps.
We recall that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine hopes that the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea will be able to make a decision in the case of the seizure of Ukrainian sailors and ships in late 2022 and early 2023.
Note that previously, the Ukrainian court did not issue a permit for the arrest of Russian security officials who participated in the Kerch incident.
In November 2018, the Russian army seized the ships Berdyansk, Nikopol and Yany Kapu as they passed through the Kerch Strait. Several months later, in September 2019, during a large prisoner exchange, 24 Ukrainian sailors who were detained in Russia for allegedly violating the border were released. The ships were returned in November of the same year.
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