Mykolaiv-based Shipyard repaired and restored combat efficiency of the Ukrainian Navy’s Nikopol and Vyshgorod armored artillery boats.

That’s according to Defense Express.

On the Nikopol boat, restoration of electrical systems and equipment is still underway after it has been put back in water. All works are scheduled to be completed before the end of the month.

At the same time, repairs at the Vyshgorod boat have been completed ahead of schedule.

On both boats, repairs covered the outer skin of the underwater part, screw steering complexes, tread protection, hull reinforcement, etc.

UNIAN memo. On the morning of November 25, 2018, Russia blocked the passage to the Kerch Strait for the Ukrainian tugboat Yany Kapu and two armored naval boats Berdyansk and Nikopol, which were on a scheduled re-deployment from the Black Sea port of Odesa to the Azov Sea port of Mariupol.

All 24 crew members on board were captured and charged with “illegal border crossing” under Part 3 of Article 322 of the Criminal Code of Russia (imprisonment for up to six years). Later the Ukrainian sailors were freed and returned to Ukraine in a major prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia on September 7, 2019.

The ITLOS on May 25 ordered Russia to immediately release the three vessels and return them under Ukrainian control.

In November 2019, Russia handed the boats back to Ukraine.

© 2020 UNIAN

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