Russian military took the seamen of the SMARTA cargo ship prisoners, the ship was brought to the shore in Mariupol.
Ombudsman Lyudmila Denisova wrote on Facebook that the vessel was under the flag of Liberia. On 21 February, the freighter entered the port of Mariupol from where it was to go to Turkey. But due to intensive russian aggression, it did not get a permit for the ship’s departure and remained in the dock at pier 18 of the Mariupol port.
“On the territory of Mariupol seaport, the military forces of the russian federation captured the crew members of the SMARTA ship under the flag of Liberia and the captain’s wife who was on board and brought them to the unknown direction. According to the preliminary information, they were brought to the temporarily occupied Donets,” she said.
18 persons are citizens of Ukraine, and 1 person is a citizen of Egypt. There is no contact with the crew and the captain’s wife. Before the ship was captured, the russian forces shelled the ship.
Shelling of civil vessels has become a common practice for the russian occupants. As a result of missile hits, the occupants sank the freighter vessel Helt under the flag of Panama, the tanker Millennial Spirit under the flag of Moldova was hit, and two bulk carriers Namura Queen та Lord Nelson under the flag of Panama got under shelling in the northern part of the Black sea while on anchorage and was significantly damaged.
At the end of February, the russian military pirates also took prisoner the Sapphire vessel of the Maritime Search and Rescue Service, which was on a humanitarian mission. In March, the crew was liberated and only three days ago, “Sapphire” returned under the control of Ukraine.