Russian Sailors Say Pirates Denied Them Food During 5-Month Captivity in Equatorial Guinea

Three Russian sailors and one of their Ukrainian counterparts have told Sputnik that their pirate captors denied them food during their five months of captivity in Equatorial Guinea

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd October, 2020) Three Russian sailors and one of their Ukrainian counterparts have told Sputnik that their pirate captors denied them food during their five months of captivity in Equatorial Guinea.

On May 9, pirates attacked two ships in Equatorial Guinea � the Djibloho in the port of Luba and the Rio Mitong in the port of Malabo � and took the sailors hostage. Two more Russian citizens were injured when the pirates launched their attack.

The captors in September threatened to kill the sailors unless a ransom was paid, although they were released from captivity at the start of October.

Russian nationals Alexei Perfilyev, Valentin Nechai, and Vyacheslav Sechin, as well as Ukrainian national Alexander Balashov, arrived in Moscow on Thursday and described the conditions of their ordeal.

"At first we slept on a bed made out of thin logs. There were mattresses and mosquito nets. For about a month and a half, the conditions were tolerable," Nechai said.

However, their conditions worsened after the captors were made aware that the military might be drafted in to help secure the release of the sailors, Nechai remarked.

"The pirates stole and did not give us food. We lost a lot of weight before our eyes," the Russian sailor said.

Following their release, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that prominent Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska played a role alongside Russian diplomats in securing the release of the sailors.

Ukrainian national Balashov said that the four sailors were grateful to Deripaska for saving their lives.

"Oleg Deripaska joined the negotiations after four months. He helped us. We owe our lives to him," Balashov said.

The sailors on Thursday will return to their home cities. Balashov will first fly to the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don before making his way to Ukraine. The three Russian nationals will leave Moscow bound for Simferopol in Crimea.

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