Russian men, aged 16-60 years, won't be allowed to enter the country: Ukraine

Ukraine has banned Russian adult men aged 16-60 years from entering Ukraine, the head of the border service Petro Tsygykal said in a televised meeting on Friday.

"Today, the entry of foreigners is limited - primarily citizens of the Russian Federation - non-admission of citizens of the Russian Federation aged from 16 to 60, male," Tsygykal said.

On the other hand, Russia does not plan to ban Ukrainian men from entering the country in a tit-for-tat response to a broad entry ban imposed by Ukraine, RIA news agency cited Russian lawmaker Frants Klintsevich as saying on Friday.

Ukraine imposed martial law this week, citing fears that Russia was planning a full scale invasion after Russian vessels fired on and captured Ukrainian ships last weekend.

Russia opened fire on the three Ukrainian vessels and then seized them and their crew on Sunday near Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Moscow and Kiev have tried to pin the blame on each other for the incident.

Earlier this week several senior European politicians raised the possibility of new sanctions against Russia to punish it for capturing the boats.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday said that Russia must release the Ukrainian boats and sailors it captured on Sunday, British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday, adding that Britain would continue to push for "appropriate sanctions."

"This is part of a pattern of Russian behaviour. They should release those ships and sailors, they should de-escalate the situation,” May told reporters on the flight to the G20 summit in Argentina, which Russian President Vladimir Putin is also due to attend.

"We have always been at the forefront in the EU of calling for sanctions on Russia in relation to its behaviour,” she added. “We will continue to push for what we consider to be appropriate sanctions on Russia.”