Russian border guards on Friday, January 27, detained two Ukrainian fishermen in the Black Sea near Crimea. This was announced by the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights Lyudmila Denisova in her Telegram.
The Ombudsman appealed to her Russian colleague Tatyana Moskalkova with a request to take measures for their release.
“Two fishermen – Ruslan Romanyuta and Ivan Gerasimenko – went out on the Volga fishing vessel into the Black Sea from the city of Genichesk, Kherson region on January 25. And they never returned home. According to preliminary data, the engine stopped working on the ship, after which the Volga was washed up near the city of Shchelkino (a resort town on the shores of the Sea of Azov – Ed.),” she explained.
Later, as Denisova noted, it became known that on the way back the fishermen were detained by Russian border guards in the Black Sea. As the Ombudsman emphasized, Kiev was not informed about this.
According to her, the National Police of Ukraine, in connection with this, opened a case under the article “Enforced Disappearance”. At the moment, it is not known how true the statements of the Ukrainian Ombudsman are.
Earlier on May 28, the press service of the FSB of Russia in the Sakhalin region reported that Russian border guards in the Sea of Okhotsk detained a fishing schooner flying the flag of Japan after trying to escape. It was noted that the ship was illegally in the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation. During the pursuit, the fishing schooner maneuvered dangerously and threatened to collide with the border guard ship.