Russians abduct sailors from cargo ship in Mariupol – Denisova

Russian forces have abducted crew members of the cargo ship SMARTA and taken them to an unknown destination, ombudsman Liudmyla Denisova has said

Source: Denisova, on Facebook

Details: It is reported that the ship was hijacked within the waters of the Mariupol sea port.

The SMARTA crew were sailing under the Liberian flag, and the wife of the ship's captain, who was on board at the time, was also abducted. According to preliminary reports, the crew were taken toward temporarily-occupied Donetsk.

Eighteen Ukrainian nationals and one Egyptian national have been abducted. There has been no contact with them. Russian forces shelled the ship before capturing the sailors.

According to Denisova, the dry-cargo vessel entered the port of Mariupol on 21 February with the intention of sailing on to Turkey. However, because of Russian military aggression, the ship did not receive permission to put to sea and remained moored in port.