Captain Of Russian Fishing Ship Nord Goes Missing In Ukraine - Lawyer

Captain of Russian Fishing Ship Nord Goes Missing in Ukraine - Lawyer

The captain of the Russian fishing vessel Nord, Vladimir Gorbenko, who has been in Ukrainian custody since last year, has gone missing, his lawyer Maksim Mogylnytsky said on Monday

SIMFEROPOL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th January, 2019) The captain of the Russian fishing vessel Nord, Vladimir Gorbenko, who has been in Ukrainian custody since last year, has gone missing, his lawyer Maksim Mogylnytsky said on Monday.

"Vladimir Gorbenko, the captain of the fishing vessel Nord, went missing. According to relatives, Vladimir disappeared from home on Saturday noon, and no one has seen him since. The captain has not contacted his family and lawyers," Mogylnytsky wrote on Facebook.

According to the lawyer, this is not the first time Gorbenko has disappeared.

"In April 2018, the captain was abducted directly from the ship Nord, which was seized in the port of Mariupol by officers of the Security Service of Ukraine. At the time, however, his lawyers found out about his whereabouts just five hours later. Therefore, we have very serious reasons to be concerned," Mogylnytsky said.

The lawyer expressed hope that the captain was alive.

"I ask anyone who has at least some information about the fate of Vladimir Gorbenko to inform the lawyers at Mogylnytsky and Partners ... I have worrying thoughts about possible provocations from law enforcement agencies or members of radical organizations," the lawyer stressed.

The Ukrainian Border Guard Service detained Nord with its 10-person crew in neutral waters of the Azov Sea in late March. In early April, Gorbenko was arrested for violating entry and exit procedures but promptly released on bail, only to be put into custody again shortly afterward for poaching charges. The crew were able to return to the Crimea only seven months later, without their captain, as a result of an exchange for Ukrainian sailors detained for poaching and breaching the Russian border.

Gorbenko still remains in Ukraine. He is charged with illegal fishing and violating the "procedure for entering and leaving the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine with the intent to harm the interests of the state."