Russia fired on Ukrainian warships and injured some of their crew members on Sunday, marking a dramatic renewal of tensions between the former Soviet neighbours near the peninsula of Crimea that Russia annexed four years ago.
Ukraine said Russian warships opened fire on a group of its military vessels in neutral waters that had previously tried to enter the Kerch Strait. Six men were wounded as Russia “fired to kill,” while three ships were captured, according to Ukraine’s Navy. Ukraine's parliament will hold an emergency session on Monday at 4pm in Kiev to discuss whether to impose martial law.
Russia said it used all necessary measures to stop Ukrainian vessels that had violated its waters and engaged in “dangerous manoeuvres.” It had earlier cut off access to the strait “for security reasons.”
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Vladimir Putin's plan of global destabilisation falters as respect for him plummets
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Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko contacted the European Union and Nato about possible additional sanctions over what he called "criminal acts."
He stressed that martial law – a measure that was not even taken at the height of Ukraine's hostilities with Russia – would not mean military mobilisation or war. The foreign ministry urged an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
Sunday’s incident is one of the worst flare-ups since a 2015 truce to halt violence in the Russian-backed conflict in Ukraine’s easternmost regions and comes less than a week before a Group of 20 leaders’ summit in Buenos Aires. Tensions between the two neighbours have contributed to ties between Russia and the West plummeting to the worst since the Cold War.
Facing a re-election bid next year, Mr Poroshenko cannot afford to appear weak, even though his navy is far smaller than Russia's. At the same time, Ukraine's supporters in the west have little enthusiasm for a new escalation of the conflict that broke out after protesters ousted the country's Kremlin-backed leader and demanded closer ties with the EU.
"We expect Russia to restore freedom of passage at the Kerch strait and urge all to act with utmost restraint to de-escalate the situation immediately," an EU spokesman said in a statement. Nato said separately that it is closely monitoring developments.
Russia's construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait – the entrance to the Azov Sea – limited ship traffic to the Ukrainian port of Mariupol, an important freight hub. Russia's FSB said the three Ukrainian ships had been "detained" for violating the Russian border. It said the wounded sailors were treated and their injuries are not life threatening.
Commenting on Facebook, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the events a “provocation,” accusing Ukraine of setting it all up to accuse Russia of aggression. Ukraine says it warned Russia in advance of the passage of its vessels.
The Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank, said Russia was probably to blame for the flare-up. John Herbst, director of the council’s Eurasia Center and a former US ambassador to Ukraine, said Russia “would like to raise the cost on the Ukrainian economy” and “entice Ukraine into taking some sort of military action to protect shipping to and from its ports.”
THREE
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The biog
Favourite hobby: taking his rescue dog, Sally, for long walks.
Favourite book: anything by Stephen King, although he said the films rarely match the quality of the books
Favourite film: The Shawshank Redemption stands out as his favourite movie, a classic King novella
Favourite music: “I have a wide and varied music taste, so it would be unfair to pick a single song from blues to rock as a favourite"
'Nightmare Alley'
Director:Guillermo del Toro
Stars:Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara
Rating: 3/5
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
Sour%20Grapes
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The specs: 2019 BMW i8 Roadster
Price, base: Dh708,750
Engine: 1.5L three-cylinder petrol, plus 11.6 kWh lithium-ion battery
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power: 374hp (total)
Torque: 570Nm (total)
Fuel economy, combined: 2.0L / 100km
CREW
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Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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WWE TLC results
Asuka won the SmackDown Women's title in a TLC triple threat with Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair
Dean Ambrose won the Intercontinental title against Seth Rollins
Daniel Bryan retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against AJ Styles
Ronda Rousey retained the Raw Women's Championship against Nia Jax
Rey Mysterio beat Randy Orton in a chairs match
Finn Balor defeated Drew McIntyre
Natalya beat Ruby Riott in a tables match
Braun Strowman beat Baron Corbin in a TLC match
Sheamus and Cesaro retained the SmackDown Tag Titles against The Usos and New Day
R-Truth and Carmella won the Mixed Match Challenge by beating Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox