Ukraine's navy said that Russia's border guards rammed one of its tugboats in the Black Sea off Moscow-annexed Crimea on Sunday in "openly aggressive actions."
It said the ships were continuing on their way "despite Russia's counteraction."
Russia's FSB security service, which oversees the border guard service, said in a statement quoted by Russian news agencies that the Ukrainian ships "illegally entered a temporarily closed area of Russian territorial waters."
It said Ukraine's ships were carrying out "provocative actions" and "their aim is clear: to create a conflict situation in this region."