State Border Guard Service: Russian warships pirate two Ukrainian civilian ships

Yesterday, announcing illegal "counter-terrorist operation" in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, ships of the Russian Navy captured two more civilian Ukrainian ships.

Once again, the aggressor country ignores all the rules and conventions of international shipping.

The Athena tanker, located in the territorial sea of Romania, 22 miles from the Zmiiniy Island,

received an open channel of communication and safety of navigation, a command to approach the Russian warship for inspection. The shipowner of the tanker "Athena" immediately informed all the competent authorities in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, monitoring the movement of ships in the area, maritime border guards recorded a sharp and illogical change of course by another ship under the Ukrainian flag. The Princess Nicole dry cargo ship from Romanian waters was also headed for Zmiiniy Island. Almost as soon as both civilian ships approached the Russian warships, the AIS was turned off and they stopped communicating. And this morning, the automatic identification systems of ships showed their stay 18 miles from the occupied Crimea.

Thus, commanders and officers of the Russian Navy once again defiantly violating the rules of international maritime law, under the guise of a self-proclaimed counter-terrorist operation turned into ordinary unscrupulous pirates, not worthy of the noble title of MARINE OFFICER. 

The pirate seizure of two Ukrainian-flagged ships with nearly 50 civilians, thousands of tons of diesel fuel and grain humiliates and turns them into primitive robbers, effectively depriving them of shoulder straps and honor.