Ukraine issues travel ban for Russian men

Ukraine on Friday banned Russian men from traveling into the country amid increasing tension with Moscow. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Twitter that the restriction, which only affects 16- to 60-year-old men, will bar Russians from forming “private armies” in the country. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia will not impose similar restrictions on Ukraine.

The latest crisis began Sunday, when the Russian coast guard shot at and seized three Ukrainian vessels. Russia claims the ships passed unauthorized through the Kerch Strait, which separates the Crimean Peninsula from Russia, while Ukraine maintains the vessels followed international maritime rules. European Council President Donald Tusk said the European Union will extend its sanctions on Russia over the “totally unacceptable” seizure of the vessels. U.S. President Donald Trump also canceled his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during this weekend’s G-20 summit in Argentina.

Adding to the tension in the region, Ihor Guskov, chief of staff at Ukraine’s SBU Intelligence agency, said Friday its officers searched the home of the head of the Pechersk Monastery, which belongs to the Russian Orthodox Church. Ukraine, which is attempting to form its own Eastern Orthodox church independent of Russia, accuses Russian Orthodox clerics of supporting separatists in the eastern part of the country. Guskov said the cleric whose home was searched was suspected of “inciting hatred.”