[Ukrainian Defense Minister Pavlo] Klimkin said the campaign in the Azov is designed to intimidate Ukraine and to disrupt its economic activities.
Twice last year, Russia shut off access to a key passageway to the Azov known as the Kerch Strait, and its ships have blocked ports in the Ukrainian towns of Berdyansk and Mariupol. The economic disruptions cost Ukraine as much as $40 million each year, according to an analysis by private intelligence firm Stratfor.
Western sanctions and a slow Ukrainian grind in the Donbas make it important for Russia to seek a better front to fight Ukraine.
Of course, Russia has to calibrate their escalation at sea. While Russia is bringing in warships from other fleets to confront Ukraine in the Black Sea region (contemplate how weak the Russian Black Sea Fleet is if it requires reinforcements to take on Ukraine's navy), Ukraine is not without means to fight Russia if Russia escalates too much:
Russia revealed (in the government controlled mass media) that it is moving warships from the Northern Fleet (Barents Sea) and the Pacific fleet to the Black Sea to reinforce ships already there in case there is a confrontation with NATO over Russian threats to restrict access to the Sea of Azov. Since September Ukraine has been insisting it had the military means to defeat Russian efforts to take control of the Sea of Azov. It was pointed out that Ukraine has a large supply of modern anti-ship missiles and naval mines and could deploy them to quickly cripple any Russian naval forces in the area.
Heck, maybe Ukraine should simply announce they are closing their ports in Russian-occupied Crimea (Russia's conquest and annexation are illegal) and start laying mines off of the Sevastopol ports.
The cyber front seems a likely Russian alternative to an escalating land war, too.
UPDATE: Related thoughts on the Sea of Azov issue.
UPDATE: Russian border guard vessels rammed a Ukrainian tug boat in a small flotilla that continued on toward Mariupol:
Russia and Ukraine accused each other of breaking international law on Sunday after Russian border guards tried and failed to stop two Ukrainian armored artillery vessels circumnavigating Crimea en route to a Ukrainian port.
The next time there might be boarding parties involved, I think.
UPDATE: Or there is this method:
Russia has stopped three Ukrainian navy vessels from entering the Sea of Azov via the Kerch Strait by placing a huge cargo ship beneath a Russian-controlled bridge, Russia's state-controlled Rossiya 24 TV channel reported on Sunday.
That's not a permanent measure since I assume that cuts off Russian traffic to Russian ports on the Sea of Azov.
Of course if the Ukrainians sank the vessel, it would make sure Russia can't use the sea while Ukraine is denied free passage.
UPDATE: Sinking that blocking ship would be an embarrassment for Russia.
Especially if it was an "accident." (Picture from Reuters article.)
UPDATE: Well, I got the boarding parties I speculated about:
Russia's FSB security service said early on Monday its border patrol boats had seized three Ukrainian naval vessels in the Black Sea near Crimea on Sunday and used weapons to force them to stop, the RIA news agency reported.
Will Ukraine sink the block ship now?
UPDATE: It is odd that the incident is getting media attention even as Russians kill Ukrainians every day in the Donbas region land front since 2014 and when Russia occupies portions of the Donbas and annexed Crimea.
