Thread by @CITeam_en

Thread: Ukranian General Staff has published a video of what they say are intercepts of radio talks between Russian coast guard vessels and their onshore command during yesterday's incident with Ukrainian vessels in the Kerch strait. Key points to follow

1. The Russian coast guard vessels rammed Ukrainian vessels (likely the "Yany Kapu" tug) twice. Both rammings occured at the Kerch strait entrance within Crimea's territorial waters.

2. The coast guard tried to ram Ukrainian gunboats but couldn't due to their maneuverability.

3. The Russian coast guard tried to use water cannons on Ukrainian vessels, but those turned out to be out of order.

4. Two Russian coast guard vessels collided, damaging the coast guard boat "Izumrud" (damage earlier noticed by @ChristopherJM)

https://twitter.com/ChristopherJM/status/1066714028834258945

@ChristopherJM 5. The Russians discussed transferring a Spetsnaz team on board the coast guard vessels. Later, that team apparently captured the 3 Ukrainian ships.

6. The operation was controlled at the highest Russian level, PM Medvedev was described to be "in a panic".

@ChristopherJM 7. The Russians also discuss a viral video which shows a Russian vessel ramming the Ukrainian tugboat.

"That's a f***ing cool video, your emotions are so genuine, you are on TV now".

"You should have seen the damage we sustained, it's totally f***ed up".

https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1066876504079036418

@ChristopherJM Update: The "Medvedev" mentioned in the recording is likely not prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, but Russia's deputy Border Service commander, head of the Coast Guard Gennady Medvedev. Apologies to our readers
(h/t @ivan_bryak)