Russia seized more than 50 ships, most of them being auxiliary. That should put the thing to a proper perspective, too.
There was an agreement signed in April 2014 for the condition of ships' return, and most of them have been returned - officially.
Only 15 or so remained because Russia suspended its return due to Donbas conflict escalation in 2016.
Not much changed by now I guess
Well even if the return was suspended they are hardly going to then complete a ship the Ukraine wanted back, because suspending for bad behaviour needs to be able to be reversed for good behaviour.
That suggests to me they didn't want them back because they had no capacity or money to get them working again and even if they did get them operational it is not a vessel useful to them, which means selling it for scrap prices.
If Ukraine officially sue Russia over that shop, it won't go any day from the black sea.
Why? It will be manned by armed Russian sailors.... who would try to take it?
The British?
Still Ukrainian... Russia has no right over Ukrainian ships even if they are abandoned
Might makes right. Plenty of Russian assets and products seized in Ukraine... not to mention Ukrainians murdered by Kiev... maybe Russia can give the ship to the Donbass region... they can sell it back to Russia... Russia can pay in anti tank missiles and anti aircraft systems and night vision equipment and flak vests...
I doubt Ukrinian agreed to give a ship to Russia during the crimean crisis.
Ukraine was murdering its own citizens because they would not stop speaking Russia... who gives a shit what they want?
Well, they weren't abandoned they were seized there is a difference. Russian naval troops seized the base and didn't let anything go. Not like the Ukies went "you can have this" it was "So here is the deal, we are taking over the base and all your ships are staying right here". When you seize a base you are seizing everything around and in at the same time.
The Russian troops were in Russian bases leased from Ukraine. They never exceeded the number of troops they were allowed to have in those bases.
Most of the seizing was done by the Crimean people, the Russians just looking on and being polite.
Those Crimean people were legally Ukrainian so those boats and that land was theirs and they legally voted to join the Russian Federation... which meant all the ships and property reverted to Russian ownership, so Russia was being very generous returning the crap they didn't want to Kiev... something that Kiev managed to ruin by murdering their own people.
The 22350 "frigates" are classified as a 1st rank ship, this is a destroyer or "ship of the line" not a frigate, using the common and NATO classification.
So the Gorshkov frigates are the same 1st rank as the upgraded Peter the Great Orlan class ships?
The fact that the designation for the Udaloy has changed from Destroyer to Frigate suggests that ships can change rank easily enough and that when new destroyers and new cruisers are built these frigates will drop down the ranks accordingly.