U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker has voiced the hope that the Ukrainian naval seamen who were captured by the Russians near the Kerch Strain on November 25 will be released before Christmas.
During a call-in talk show hosted by the U.S. government-funded Voice of America on December 17, Volker expressed the hope Russia will release the captured Ukrainian seamen before Christmas but said there has been nothing to prove that Russia has such an intention.
At the same time, Volker did not specify which Christmas he meant—the Catholic one on December 25 or the Orthodox one, which is celebrated on January 7.
The Russian border guards on November 25 captured three Ukrainian naval ships near the Kerch Strait that had been sailing from two Ukrainian ports, from Odesa to Mariupol.
All the 24 members of the crews were arrested on charges of illegal border crossing until January 25, 2019, and taken to Moscow on November 30.
Kyiv said the detained seamen are prisoners of war and demanded that they be released immediately.
