
Russian-backed separatists have seized two foreign-flagged ships in the eastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, saying they are now "state property", in the first such moves against commercial shipping, letters seen by Reuters showed.
Mariupol, on Ukraine's southern coast, fell under the control of Russian and separatist forces in May after a months-long siege. Russia, which invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, is fighting to seize the whole of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.