A Crimean judge in Simferopol ordered pre-trial detentions of one month and 28 days for twelve of the 24 Ukrainian sailors captured by Russia in a clash with the Russian Navy on Sunday.  

The sailors were detained when Russia seized three Ukrainian vessels off the Crimean coast.

They are being accused of illegally trespassing Russian maritime borders when their two military vessels and one tugboat attempted to cross from the Black to Azov Sea via the Kerch Strait.

Russia's FSB security service said its border patrol boats had seized the vessels opening fire on them and wounding several sailors.

Ukrainian security service, SBU, confirmed that one of its officers, Vasyl Soroka, is among those captured. He was not among those whose cases were heard by the court.

His father, Viktor Soroka, spoke to reporters on Tuesday, saying that brief contact was made with his son.

This is the most serious clash between Moscow and Kiev in years in what is effectively a frozen conflict.

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