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Russia on Sunday intervened as Ukrainian warships were engaged in relocation from the Port of Odesa to the Port of Mariupol in the Sea of Azov, the Ukrainian navy said.
According to a statement by the Ukrainian Navy, two armored artillery vessels and a tug boat were sent after notifying transfer plans in advance, in accordance with international rules, to ensure the safety of shipping.
The statement said Russian ships tried to stop the movement by “ramming” the tugboat that caused minor damages.
It said all “unlawful” actions were recorded by the Ukrainian Navy Command and transferred to the international bodies.
However, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed that Ukraine violated international law by crossing the Sea of Azov, off the Crimea.
Relatives of the victims of the Malaysian Airlines flight shot down in 2014 are taking Russia to the European Court of Human Rights, Dutch media reported on Friday. A law firm based in Amsterdam issued a formal complaint against Russia to the court on behalf of relatives of 55 people who died in the MH17 disaster, DutchNews.nl reported. The website quoted lawyer Veeru Mewa saying: “My clients have the impression that Russia has not delivered important information to the Joint Investigation Team.” “In addition, Russia has come forward with facts which have later transpired not to be true,” he added. According to DutchNews.nl, if the case is accepted, it would take around five to seven years to be processed. This May a team of international investigators implicated Russia in the crash of flight MH17, which was shot down while flying over eastern Ukraine, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board.
Relatives of MH17 victims taking Russia to top EU court
In a statement, the FSB said the Ukrainian warships illegally entered Russian territorial waters at 07.00 a.m. local time.
The statement added that the Ukrainian ships were carrying out “dangerous maneuvers” in the Russian waters, ignoring the warnings of the border security.
Ukrainian ships continued its “provocation for around five hours in the territorial waters of Russia,” the statement said, added: "The purpose of the Ukrainian ships in the region to create a conflict is obvious."
Russia's energy company Gazprom will extend the TurkStream natural gas pipeline's second string to Bulgaria, according to Russian newspaper Kommersant on Thursday.Kommersant claimed that Russian gas would flow from Turkey to Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovakia.The start of natural gas deliveries to Bulgaria and Serbia is expected in 2020, and it is anticipated that gas flows to Hungary will begin in 2021. This route option through these countries means that natural gas deliveries via Ukraine would be avoided.TurkStream's giant pipelaying vessel: Pioneering SpiritUkraine, along with some European countries, opposes the TurkStream project's second line as they consider that it will contribute to an increase in Russia's monopoly in the European gas market.The newly proposed route follows the same course as that of the canceled South Stream project in 2014.Although objections to the project in Europe are likely to continue, the Russian company is in compliance with the EU's competition law. This law promotes the maintenance of competition within the European Single Market by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies to ensure that they do not create cartels and monopolies that would damage the interests of society.The TurkStream, consisting two lines, will have a total capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters.Turkey will receive 15.75 bcm of the gas while the remaining capacity will be sent to Europe.TurkStream is key step for Turkey as gas trading centerErdoğan calls Russia 'reliable' partner for Turkey
Bulgaria reported as route choice for TurkStream 2 gas
The head of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency that the West has blamed for a string of brazen attacks died on Wednesday after "a serious and long illness," the Russian defence ministry said.State news agency TASS cited the ministry as saying Igor Korobov, 62, who ran the spy agency since 2016, had been made a Hero of Russia for his service in the post, the highest state award.Britain has accused the GRU of attempting to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter with a nerve agent in the city of Salisbury, the Netherlands has accused it of trying to hack the global chemical weapons watchdog, and U.S. intelligence agencies say it tried to hack the 2016 presidential election.Russia denies all those allegations.Moscow slams new US sanctionsSpeculation about Korobov's fate had been growing since an unconfirmed Russian media report that he had been summoned by President Vladimir Putin after the Skripal affair and severely criticised for the operation which left the Skripals alive and the GRU a target of mockery in the Western media.Korobov was absent from a ceremony in Moscow this month where Putin and other senior officials celebrated the centenary of the GRU, with the Russian leader praising its skill and "unique abilities."Operatives of the agency, widely known by its old acronym of GRU, set an example for a future generation of military spies, said Putin, himself a former intelligence officer, citing their readiness to sacrifice everything "for the motherland".Kremlin says there was clear pressure on Interpol voteSOVIET VETERANKorobov's death paves the way for Putin to appoint a successor to head an agency that intelligence experts say has stepped up its covert missions as tension mounts between Russia and the West, which has imposed sanctions on Moscow over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea.Asked last month if there would be a shake-up at the defence ministry in the aftermath of the Skripal affair, the Kremlin said the low quality of the allegations levelled at GRU did not justify such changes.The United States included Korobov's name on a March sanctions blacklist of people believed to have helped "undermine cyber security on behalf of the Russian government".US targets Iran-Russia network over oil sent to SyriaKorobov was a Soviet military veteran who served in the air force and, according to his official biography, began working for the GRU in 1985.The GRU, founded as the registration directorate in 1918 after the Bolshevik revolution, is one of Russia's three main intelligence agencies, alongside the domestic Federal Security Service and the SVR Foreign Intelligence Service. 
Head of Russian spy agency accused of British poison attack dies