The Russian occupiers captured the civilian rescue ship "Sapphire" and are transporting it to the port of the occupied Sevastopol.
The "Sapphire" captain, who was allowed to contact the Administration of Seaports of Ukraine, informed about it, according to the Telegram channel of the Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence.
The captain said that "little green men" were on board, holding the crew under their muzzles.
The occupiers' captain arrived on the ship and took over the command.
The actions of the Russian occupiers are classified exclusively as piracy and direct violation of international maritime law and the SOLAS Convention.
Vasyl Vyrozub, a priest of the Odessa Eparchy, was on board the Sapphire. The ship was to pick up the Ukrainian servicemen's bodies killed on Zmiinyy Island. It coordinated the rescue mission with the occupiers.
However, it turned out that there were no casualties on the island, and the Russian military used the situation as an excuse to lure a lifeboat without any weapons and capture it with a civilian crew and an OCU priest.