The family of a Ukrainian seafarer on a rescue vessel detained by the Russian Navy has issued a plea for help and information about the crew’s plight.
The Sapphire, operated by Ukraine’s Marine Search & Rescue Service (MSRS), headed to Snake Island in Odessa Bay following the infamous Russian attack there on 24 February.
Guards on the island refused to lay down their weapons and the island was shelled.
In a message sent to TradeWinds, Denis Dmitrov, the son-in-law of a 76-year-old Ukrainian seafarer on the Sapphire, said the ship arrived at the island on 26 February to locate the dead and wounded.
Dmitrov was then told by MSRS on 27 February that the ship was being blocked from the port of Odessa.
Minutes later, a report by the news agency RBC-Ukraine said the vessel had been “hijacked” by Russian warships in the Black Sea, according to information from the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure.
Dmitrov’s relative contacted the family on the same day, saying he was okay, but phones had been confiscated.
Later reports claimed the vessel had been taken to Russian-controlled Sevastopol in annexed Crimea.
On 10 March, it was reported that the crew had been removed from the Sapphire and taken into custody.
“From that moment on, neither the media nor the company knows anything. There is no connection. Every day I watch my son’s frightened eyes when a crying grandmother reports that there is no news from his grandfather,” Dmitrov said.
“Why is society silent? Why is there no action to urgently release these civilians from captivity? After all, it is obvious that it was a pirate seizure. This is a vile and criminal act on the part of the Russian Federation. Beasts.”
Dmitrov described the vessel as an “ambulance” of the sea, adding: “The seizure of such a ship is a direct violation of the laws of war and humanitarian law.
“It’s a despicable thing, it’s vile and simply cannot be done.”
