Ukraine accused Russia on Monday of attempting to illegally seize control of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait, as hearings in a major arbitration case between Kyiv and Moscow began. The hearings at the Permanent Court of Arbitration are part of ongoing international legal challenges over Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which coincides with ongoing warfare in the region, reported the Associated Press. 

Ukrainian envoy Anton Korynevych informed the arbitrators that Russia wants to take the Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait for itself, referring to a bridge built by Russia across the Kerch Strait. This $3.5 billion, 19-kilometer (12-mile) bridge connects the Black and Azov Seas and is critical to Russian military activities in southern Ukraine, the AP report stated.