The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has turned down Ukraine’s request for interim measures concerning the detention of Ukrainian navy ships in the Kerch Strait on November 25, 2018, the Russian Justice Ministry said in a statement published on its website on Friday.
“The arguments and materials provided by the Ukrainian authorities did not persuade the ECHR to grant their request. The Court came to the conclusion that the request did not contain any new arguments and was similar to the previous one, to which the Russian authorities had already responded in full,” the statement reads.
In February 2019, the Ukrainian Justice Ministry submitted an additional request to the ECHR that the arrested Ukrainian navy sailors be transferred to Ukraine to receive medical care. The Russian Justice Ministry pointed out that the Kiev authorities had questioned the quality of the medical treatment the sailors were receiving in Russia, citing the Ukrainian Health Ministry’s conclusions, but their request was based on information provided by the sailors’ defense attorneys and family members.