Kerch Peninsula

Vladimir Varimez from the village of Bankovka is one of the 24 sailors who were arrested after three Ukrainian ships tried to cross the Kerch Strait, bTV reported.

The information was confirmed by the mayor of the village Viktor Genchev.

He added that Vladimir's father is still in Bankovka, but it is possible at some point to leave for Sevastopol to try to meet his son.

In those cases, added the chair of the International Committee of the Russian Federation Council, the term "rights of people" is used.

NATO is monitoring the situation.

The tension between Russia and Ukraine comes over the situation in the Sea of Azov. Russian Coast Guard boats (on Sunday) seized three Ukrainian military vessels in the Black Sea near Crime, as they were trying to cross the Kerch Straits.

The Russian side used weapons to force the ships to stop.

Russia has seized three Ukrainian naval ships in waters near Moscow-annexed Crimea, raising fears of military escalation and prompting an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday, reports AFP. 

AFP, KERCH: Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to unveil Tuesday a highly symbolic bridge linking southern Russia to the Crimea, four years after the peninsula was annexed from Ukraine.

The Crimean Bridge, at 19 kilometers will be Europe's longest, overtaking Lisbon's Vasco da Gama Bridge.

A Turkish registered dry cargo vessel crashed into the supporting legs of a bridge construction on the Azov Sea, causing major damage on a project aiming to link Crimea to mainland Russia through a railway and a highway.

Russian construction workers are already building a bridge that will link mainland Russia to the Crimean peninsula which the country incorporated last year.

The news was first announced by a Crimean association called "Simferopol" (the administrative center of Crimea) which posted pictures of the works on Facebook.