Kiev should strengthen its military presence in the Azov Sea in order to rebuff the "aggressor" in the event of a military conflict,. With such a statement the leader of the People's Front faction in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Maxim Burbak. "The answer to the naval blockade of the country should be the building up of our military presence, the strengthening of economic sanctions," the politician said during today's meeting of the conciliatory council of leaders of parliamentary factions. His words lead RIA Novosti. This proposal was voiced a few days after the command of the Ukrainian Naval Forces announced that Kiev plans to increase in the near future the grouping of ships, the number of marines and artillery in the Azov water area. Shortly thereafter, Kyiv decided to come up with a basis for such measures and circulated information that the Russian special services again illegally detained a Ukrainian vessel in the Sea of ??Azov. "On the night of 31. 08 to 01. 09. 2018 at about 00:00 local time, the coast guard of the Russian FSB detained on the way from the Mariupol near Berdyansk Ukrainian bulk carrier Amadore, at 10:00 the vessel still continues to stand, "an expert at the Maidan of Foreign Affairs Foundation, editor-in-chief of the BlackSeaNews portal Andrey Klimenko. He added that such detentions usually last about three hours. Klimenko also said that the owner of the vessel is a company from Odessa. On the way to the Azov Sea, it was waiting for permission in the Kerch Strait for 119 hours. The expert complained that from August 14 to 21, Russia did not freely allow a single vessel from the Black Sea to the Ukrainian ports of the Azov Sea. Ukrainian politicians insist that the actions of Russian border guards are illegal. Russia, however, refers to bilateral agreements between Kiev and Moscow, according to which the border services of the two countries have the right to stop any suspicious vessel in the Sea of ??Azov for inspection. The permitted detention time is up to three days. This is reluctantly recognized by some Kiev officials: Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Elena Zerkal earlier said that the Russians do not violate the protocols during the inspection of Ukrainian ships in the Azov Sea. Nevertheless, the situation with shipping in the Sea of ??Azov Ukraine estimates as preparation for the armed offensive of the Russian army and navy on its ports. To protect against alleged aggression, Ukrainians are preparing to pull additional forces into the water area. At the end of August, the US State Department decided to intercede for Ukrainian seafarers.

The department said that Moscow's actions are interfering with maritime transit and represent additional examples of a campaign to undermine and destabilize the situation in Ukraine. Russian diplomats in response expressed bewilderment that the State Department "was concerned with legitimate stops" for inspections of ships - it was stops, not detentions and arrests. Also, our diplomats drew attention to the fact that the Americans do not mention the unlawful actions of the Ukrainian side against the Russian vessels "Nord" and "Mechanic Pogodin".