Abstract. The November 23-26, 2018 developments in the Black Sea near the entrance to the Kerch Strait led to detention of the Ukrainian Navy ships with sailors by Russia. This crisis poses a number of difficult questions to the expert communities from Russia, Ukraine, and third countries. How legitimate were Russian actions, from the point of international law? Did Russia exceed its authority or not? Was the incident a pre-planned provocation by the Ukrainian side? Who bears greater responsibility for the incident? What political and legal consequences can this incident have? The article addresses these questions.