Passage of vessels through Kerch Strait banned over Kiev’s provocation

The passage of civil ships through the Kerch Strait was banned on Sunday amid fears of provocations after three Ukrainian warships had intruded into Russia’s territorial waters, a source in transport authorities of the South Federal District said, TASS reports.

"The Kerch-Yenikale Canal has been closed," the source said, noting that this comes "amid fears of provocations" and earlier political statements in Ukrainian media.

Besides, the ships have switched off all means of their detection, he said. "They are not seen, they are not providing information to the center for control of maritime traffic."