A video allegedly intercepted from the Russian FSB secret service shows the clash which threatens to spark a new war between the neighbours
THIS is the dramatic moment the Russian coastguard deliberately rams a Ukrainian naval boat after being ordered to “squash him!”
A video - allegedly intercepted from the secret service - shows the clash which threatens to spark a new war between the neighbours.
In the extraordinary footage the following commands are heard from what is believed to be a Russian FSB secret agent: "Squash him, well done, squeeze him from the right, push from the right ****!
"Push, I’ll get him here ****! Push him! Straight ahead! Yes to straight ahead Go, go ****! Push him!!
"Straight ahead! (Midships!) Yes to straight ahead Five to the left, ten to the left, stop the engine, stop.
"Back off, back off ****, back off! Go **!!!! Go, everyone hold on tight **!!! Everyone hold on."
The giant Russian vessel is then seen ramming into the side of the small Ukrainian boat.
Ukrainian sources claim to have intercepted the video from Russian coastguards, part of the FSB’s border guard division.
The footage shows Russian vessel Don ramming a Ukrainian warship, according to Ukraine’s interior minister Arsen Avakov.
He said: “Intercepted video is taken by the RF (Russian Federation), commands heard.
“That will stand as proof to the international court! Aggression!
"Let's stand together and anticipate reaction of friendly countries!”
The Russian military seized three Ukrainian naval ships and 23 crew following alleged shoot outs off the coast of the Crimean peninsula.
Two of the craft - the Berdyansk and the Nikopol - were damaged in the Black Sea clash which left six injured - including two in a "grave" condition.
Putin's special forces seized the military boats after claiming they had entered Russian waters illegally.
Ukraine's president has now called an emergency summit of his war cabinet - sparking protests outside Kiev's Russian embassy.
Today MPs are due to vote on whether to declare nationwide martial law following the emergency summit held by President Petro Poroshenko.
He insisted that the act was not a declaration of war but intended for defence purposes only.
The confrontation is a dangerous development in a conflict pitting Ukraine against Russian-backed rebels in the east of the country.
Thousands died in fighting between Ukrainian troops and the separatists during the annexation of the Crimea by Russia in 2014.
Tension between Russia and Ukraine have been building for months off the coast of Crimea.
Under a 2003 treaty between Moscow and Kiev, the Kerch Straight and the Sea of Azov are shared territorial waters.
But recently Russia began inspecting all vessels sailing to or from Ukrainian ports in the area.
However, the weekend's violence is the first time that Russian and Ukrainian fighters have officially clashed since 2014.
The crisis began on Sunday when Russia intercepted the Berdyansk and Nikopol gunboats and the Yana Kapa tug.
The Ukrainian navy said that a Russian coastguard vessel, named the Don, rammed one of its tugboats in "openly aggressive actions".
All three vessels continued towards the Kerch Strait, but were then stopped from entering the Sea of Azov by a huge cargo ship Russia had installed beneath the 12-mile long Crimean Bridge.
Initially Moscow claimed that Ukraine's actions were a "provocation" and that the ships had turned back.
Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said the incident was premeditated.
"Obviously, it was a provocation, with its time, location and form premeditated," he said.
"The aims are clear: to shake Ukraine up via imposing martial law, and to mobilise the anti-Russian policies of the West, to step up the anti-Russian sanctions.
"Obviously, it is easier for Poroshenko to carry out his election campaign amid this background," Karasin told Sputnik.
The Russian Security Service (FSB) later confirmed it had used weapons to stop the vessels from entering its waters illegally and had seized all three vessels.
Before any shots were fired, an audio exchange between a Russian and Ukrainian vessel suggests that the Ukrainian crew radioed they were unarmed.
The Russians asked: "How many injured?"
A Ukrainian voice replies: "We have lying injured here. We need help, we need help."
A Russian voice is heard saying: "Hands up, all onboard, hands up!"
“If you have weapons or hands under clothes, we will shoot! Shoot to kill"
Then a Russian asks: ";How many injured do you have?”
The Ukrainians reply: "I need help, I need help!
“We are giving, son of a bitch, these coordinates. Bitch! I need help.”
The FSB was cited as saying it had acted because the ships had illegally entered its territorial waters, ignored warnings to stop and manoeuvred dangerously.
Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Ukraine was acting like "highwaymen" in the Kerch Strait.
she writes that first there was a "provocation", then "coercive pressure" and finally "the accusation of aggression".
However, President Poroshenko described the Russian actions as "unprovoked and crazy".
His Foreign ministry said: "Today's dangerous events in the Azov Sea testify that a new front of [Russian] aggression is open.
"Ukraine [is] calling now for emergency meeting of United Nations Security Council."
The EU said in a statement that it expected Russia to restore freedom of passage via the Kerch strait and urged both sides to act with utmost restraint to de-escalate the situation.
A NATO spokeswoman issued a similar appeal to both sides.
Tensions have risen in the seas off the Crimean peninsula - annexed by Russia in 2014 - in recent months.
Since 2003 countries have had the right to use the strait, but since the annexation Moscow has controlled the land on both sides.
In a statement, the Ukrainian navy said the Berdyansk and the Nikopol gunboats were hit and disabled as they tried to leave the area, and that the tug was also forced to stop.
Russian fighter jets and helicopters were seen flying around the Crimean bridge, apparently monitoring Ukrainian vessels.
In a statement, Ukraine's foreign ministry said Russia had "crossed the line".
"Russia's provocative actions in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov have crossed the line and become aggressive," the statement said.
"Russian ships have violated our freedom of maritime navigation and unlawfully used force against Ukrainian naval ships."
The martial law vote comes four months ahead of presidential elections that Poroshenko is expected to lose.
Russian politicians have already highlighted that if normal government is suspended, elections could be postponed.
The weekend's naval clashes came as Russia showcased its latest state-of-the-art warship firing its first cruise missile.
The new corvette Gromky (Loud) successfully launched its first Uran (Uranus) cruise missile, reported the ministry’s TV channel, Zvezda.
The military exercise was in the Sea of Japan and backed up by up to ten warships, auxiliary boats and Pacific Fleet naval aircrafts.
Pacific Fleet spokesman Nikolay Voskrsenskiy said: “The missile successfully hit its target 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the warship.”
The corvette is 343 ft long with a top speed of 27 knots.
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