What was overlooked during the return of Ukraine’s kidnapped sailors and political hostages from Russia

A graduation ceremony for Ukrainian sailors was held Sept 14

The U.S. called on Russia to release jailed Ukrainian sailors and enable a prisoner exchange, U.S. State Department Special Representative Kurt Volker told reporters in Kyiv

The U.S. "continues to strongly condemn Russia's dangerous naval assault on the Ukrainian Navy and the illegal detainment 24 Ukrainian sailors," legislators say

The inquiry into the case of 24 Ukrainian sailors arrested following the Kerch Strait incident in fall 2018 has been practically concluded

Russia refuses to comply with the ITLOS ruling, insisting the international rules do not apply to the sailors' case

Russian authorities must release the 24 Ukrainian sailors who were captured last year after entering the Kerch Strait, a United Nations maritime tribunal has ruled

An international tribunal has ordered Russia to "immediately" release 24 Ukrainian sailors and three naval ships it seized off Crimea in November

The foreign ministers of the G7 countries have called on Russia to release Ukrainian seamen, who on November 25, 2018, were forcibly seized in the Kerch Strait area

The investigation department of Russia’s Federal Security Service handed out orders on scheduling an expert psychiatric examination (a kind of forensic test) to two more captive Ukrainian sailors Vasyl Soroka and Viktor Bespalchenko

A court in Moscow ruled on Wednesday that four Ukrainian sailors seized by Russia last year off the coast of Crimea should be kept in pre-trial detention until April 24

The leaders of Germany and France are pressing Russia to release Ukrainian sailors captured over a month ago in time for the new year and Orthodox Christmas

Lawyer: It will depend on the "political situation and the political will of the Kremlin"