AKIPRESS.COM - The Ukrainian military said Sunday that Russian boats had opened fire on and seized three of its ships near Crimea, escalating a standoff over the Kerch Strait, a waterway that links the Azov Sea with the Black Sea.

In a statement, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said the small gunboats Berdyansk and Nikopol and the tugboat Yana Kapu were attacked.

Six of its sailors were injured in the incident, Ukraine's navy said, adding the tugboat and the Berdyansk were disabled by Russian forces and were being towed away by the Russian navy. The undamaged Nikopol also is under Russian control, Ukraine said.

Earlier, Russian authorities closed off the Kerch Strait amid the confrontation with the Ukrainian naval vessels, Russian state news agencies and the Ukrainian military said.

Ukraine and Russia offered conflicting accounts of the incident at sea.

Russia says Ukraine ships trespassed

Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti, citing Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, said the three vessels of the Ukrainian navy had reversed course away from Kerch Strait.

The FSB's Border Service in Crimea reported that three Ukrainian warships had illegally entered Russia's territorial waters, and were carrying out dangerous maneuvers, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

According to RIA-Novosti, the FSB blamed Kiev for provocation in the waters of the Black Sea.

- CNN