The fate of the crews of the boats that sank during the battle near Zmiyinyi is still unknown, – the Ombudsman

Relatives of sailors who were on the boats are still waiting for a favorable security situation in the Black Sea.

This was reported by the Presidential Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Servicemen Olha Reshetylova.

According to her, an indicator of a ceasefire at sea could be the possibility of safely conducting a humanitarian operation to raise the two boats that sank in 2022 – “Slovyanskaya” and “Stanislava”.

One of them sank after a missile strike near Kinburn Spit, the other – during a naval battle near Zmiinyi Island.

The fate of 16 crew members of these vessels is still unknown.

“Their relatives have been waiting for a favorable security situation in the Black Sea for years and are begging the international community to facilitate the possibility of raising the boats to the surface for examination and search for bodies. If Russia really wants a ceasefire at sea, there is a good reason to demonstrate this,” the Commissioner emphasized.

As previously reported by USM, the search mission was also intended to be created within the framework of several international initiatives — NATO’s trilateral agreement on demining the Black Sea and the Maritime Coalition led by Great Britain and Norway.