KYIV, Nov 26 - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its strong protest to the Russian Federation in connection with the armed attack and capture of the Ukrainian navy ships Berdiansk, Nikopol and the tugboat Yany Kapu, as well as the wounding and capturing of members of their crews, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said.

"The attack on Ukrainian ships that was carried out during a sea crossing from the port of Odessa to the port of Mariupol, in accordance with the provisions of all effective multilateral and bilateral international treaties and navigation rules, is nothing but another act of armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, as defined, in particular, in Article 2 of the Charter of the United Nations and the provisions of UN General Assembly Resolution 29/3314 of 14 December 1974 on the definition of aggression. Russia has de facto expanded its military aggression against Ukraine to the sea," the ministry said.