Michael Cruickshank is an Australian freelance conflict journalist currently based in Berlin Video 1: Intercepted Russian communications from the 25th of November released by the SBU several key pieces of information can be taken away The first is that the Russian vessel ‘Don’ rammed the ‘Yany Kapu’ twice Once at 07:35 at the location (44°56’00″N 36°30’08″E) and a second time at 7:44 at (44°56’06″N 36°30’05″E) The second takeaway is that Russian vessel ‘Izumrud’ was damaged in a collision with another Russian ship Another piece of evidence is a video showing the Russian ship ‘Don’ appearing to intentionally ram the Ukrainian tug ‘Yany Kapu’ Video 2: Footage of Russian Coast Guard vessel ‘Don’ ramming the Yani Kapu Image 1: FSB photo of the undamaged tug ‘Yani Kapu’ on the 24th of November Image 2: Damage sustained to the starboard stern of the ‘Yani Kapu’ Image 3: Damage sustained to the starboard midship of the ‘Yani Kapu’ Image 4: Damage sustained to the port stern of the ‘Yani Kapu’ Image 5: Damage to the Russian Coast Guard vessel ‘Izumrud’ sustained in a collision with another Russian ship Image 6: Comparison of the large red ship in Zvezda footage and an image of the bulk carrier ‘Aviona’ The aforementioned Telekanal Zvezda video also contains another piece of useful information a bulk freight ship identified as the ‘Aviona’ can be seen within a few hundred meters from one of the Ukrainian armoured artillery boats we can determine that the ‘Aviona’ was at anchor in the Kerch Strait in effectively the same location for the entirety of November 25 This gives us a new data point for the location of the Ukrainian ships later in the day much further north than previous positions Image 7: Locations of the bulk carrier ‘Aviona’ on the 25th of November (Source: MarineTraffic) The Russian FSB released a detailed timeline of the events of the day including a number of geographical positions in which key events occurred These events are plotted on the map seen below Image 8: Timeline of the events and key positions according to the FSB Image 9: Distance between the location where the ‘Berdyansk’ came under fire according to the FSB shows that the ‘Berdyansk’ was 22.72km from the coast of Crimea and more than 500m outside of Russian-claimed territorial waters when it came under fire Ukraine for its part provided less detailed information regarding key locations during this period Image 10: Ukrainian release showing the locations of the capture of the three ships Image 11: Damage to the Ukrainian Navy ship ‘Berdyansk’ Russia reportedly fired on two Ukrainian vessels and rammed a third during a confrontation in the Sea of Azov this past weekend that left a handful of Ukrainian sailors injured Video footage from the clash, obtained and released by Arsen Avakov the Ukrainian minister of internal affairs appears to show the exact moment a suspected Russian ship slams into the side of a Ukrainian tugboat in the shallow waters between Russia and the Ukraine The tugboat was escorting two Ukrainian naval vessels from Odessa on the Black Sea to the port city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov via the Kerch Strait when the incident occurred Read more: Russia confirms it fired at Ukrainian ships in major escalation of Crimea tensions insists that the country's actions were necessary after the three ships entered Russian waters without authorization claims that it gave the Russians advance notice that its ships would be in the area Russia and Ukraine signed a treaty in 2003 to share the Sea of Azov as well as the adjacent Kerch Strait. Russia has increased its military presence in the area, regularly stopping Ukrainian ships for inspections, the Associated Press reports The Russians further assert that the Ukrainian ships did not respond to warnings and were engaging in aggressive maneuvers argues that this was an unprovoked act of Russian aggression "Russian coastguard vessels ... carried out openly aggressive actions against Ukrainian navy ships," Ukrainian authorities said in a statement the only passageway between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov The Ukraine has long warned that Russia would eventually blockade the strait The recent incident marks a significant escalation in tensions which began rising with Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 At a UN gathering, Volodymyr Yelchenko, the permanent representative of Ukraine to the UN, said Russia's version of events combines fact and fiction, arguing that this was an "act of open military aggression." Russia seized three Ukrainian naval ships in waters near Crimea raising fears of military escalation and prompting an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Monday Moscow and Kiev blamed each other for the incident Crimea was incorporated into Russia in March 2014 following a local referendum The Public Relations Center of the Russian Federal Security service confirmed the incident saying Russia used weapons against the Ukrainian ships which it claims had illegally entered its waters before being boarded and searched "The Ukrainian Navy's vessels the Berdyansk which violated Russia's state border this morning made another attempt to commit illegal activities in Russia's territorial sea at 7 pm Moscow time on Nov 25," the FSB said "They did not respond to legitimate demands by the ships and boats of Russia's FSB Border Guard Service escorting them to stop immediately and performed dangerous maneuvers." The FSB said "weapons were used to force the Ukrainian warships to stop" all three Ukrainian vessels were detained in Russia's territorial waters in the Black Sea The FSB said Ukraine was aware of the procedure for the warships' passage through the area adding that the three ships will be escorted to the port of Kerch Moscow will summon a senior Ukrainian diplomat to complain about the incident Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Monday Ukraine said a Russian border guard vessel rammed the tugboat in "openly aggressive actions" and then fired on the ships The Ukrainian Navy said it had informed Russia in advance about the passage of its vessels from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov through the Kerch Strait which is claimed by Ukraine as a narrow waterway that gives access to the Sea of Azov that is used by both Ukraine and Russia was blocked by a tanker and that Russian military aircraft were flying over the area The Ukrainian Navy said the boats had been hit and disabled as they tried to leave the area an officer of the FSB State Border Directorate for Crimea said only three Ukrainian military servicemen who sustained minor wounds have received medical care The incident raised several protests against Russia in Kiev and a car with Russian diplomatic plates was burned in the vicinity of the Russian embassy in the Ukrainian capital late on Sunday The confrontation at sea is a dangerous development in the long-running Russian-Ukraine relations The UN Security Council was scheduled to meet on the latest developments at the request of Russia and Ukraine later on Monday The European Union said in a statement that it expected Russia to restore freedom of passage via the Kerch Strait and urged both sides to act with the utmost restraint to defuse the situation NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said "we call for restraint and de-escalation" Russia reopened the Kerch Strait to shipping in the early hours of Monday morning Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko proposed parliament on Monday impose martial law in the country while saying "Ukraine does not plan to fight anyone" over tensions with Russia in the Sea of Azov Poroshenko said the introduction of the 60-day martial law does not mean that Ukraine will carry out any offensive actions Ukraine's Foreign Ministry earlier said the "Russian aggressive actions" were a violation of international law Moscow said Crimea is part of Russia and the Kerch Strait is not an international passage Russian politicians accused Ukraine of acting at the behest of its Western allies and deliberately attempting to escalate the conflict warned on Facebook that "the Ukrainian authorities.. are risking unleashing a large military conflict"