KIEV, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said Ukraine on Monday filed its memorial to international arbitration proceedings against Russia over the rights on waters around the Crimean peninsula.
"The Memorial establishes that Russia has violated Ukraine's sovereign rights in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, and the Kerch Strait," the ministry said in a statement.
According to the statement, Ukraine has accused Russia of "stealing Ukraine's energy and fisheries resources, harming the livelihoods of Ukrainian fishermen, and blocking traffic to Ukrainian ports by building a bridge across the Kerch Strait."
Currently, Russia is building a 19-km bridge across the Kerch Strait, which is expected to be completed at the end of 2018.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has not commented yet on Kiev's move to file the memorial.
In March 2014, Crimea was incorporated into Russia following a local referendum, which was recognized by Moscow. Meanwhile, Kiev said the Crimea peninsula was illegally annexed by Russia.
In September 2016, Ukraine initiated the arbitration proceedings against Russia under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in the five-member Tribunal sitting in The Hague, the Netherlands.
