[Published: Tuesday November 27 2018]
 Russia puts captured Ukrainians on TV
MOSCOW 27 Nov (ANA) - Statements by three captured Ukrainians have been released by Russia's security service after Russian ships fired on and seized three Ukrainian boats off the coast of Russian-annexed Crimea.
One of the men, Volodymyr Lisovyi, said he was aware of the "provocative nature" of the Ukrainian action.
Ukraine's navy commander said the men had been forced to lie under duress.
Meanwhile, a Crimean court ordered the first two of the 24 Ukrainians seized on Sunday to be detained for 60 days.
The court is expected to issue similar rulings for 10 more sailors later on Tuesday.
Western nations have condemned Russia's use of force, four years after it seized Ukraine's southern Crimean peninsula.
The flare-up is the first outright clash between Ukraine and Russian forces for years, although pro-Russian separatists and Russian "volunteers" have been fighting Ukraine's army in two eastern regions.
Tensions escalated when Russia opened a bridge this year between Russia and Crimea over the Kerch Strait, which leads into the Sea of Azov. Ukraine has two big ports on the northern shore of the Azov sea, and a 2003 treaty allows both countries free access to its waters.
Russia has accused the two Ukrainian gunboats and a tug of violating Russian territorial waters as they sailed through the Kerch Strait. But Ukraine says the incidents happened in areas that are free to shipping.
On Monday night, Ukraine's parliament responded by backing President Petro Poroshenko's decision to impose martial law for a 30-day period from 26 November in 10 border regions.(ANA)
FA/ANA/27 November 2018-----
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