A Spanish court has freed a Ukrainian sailor who tried to sink his Russian boss’s luxury yacht in anger over Russia’s attack on his homeland.
A Local newspaper, Ultima Hora, reported that the 55-year-old mechanic had worked for ten years on the Lady Anastasia, a 156ft luxury yacht worth €5 million owned by Alexander Mijeev, the former head of the Russian Helicopter Corporation.
In a statement, the sailor explained the reasons for his action, saying, “I don’t regret anything I’ve done and I would do it again.”
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The man worked as a mechanic on the Lady Anastasia ship for roughly 10 years and said, according to local media the attempted sinking was an “act of revenge” against the owner of the boat, the Russian Alexander Mijeev, who holds a high position in a Russian state company specialising in weapons.
When the Civil Guard arrived, the sailor turned himself in and said: “My boss is a criminal who sells weapons that kill the Ukrainian people.”
The sailor made a statement to police, explaining that he took ‘revenge’ after watching a news segment on Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
Seeing Russian fighters “attacking innocents” with a helicopter featuring ‘armaments produced by the ship owner’s company’, just two hours later the man headed to the yacht, which was moored at Port Adriano.
While there, he is reported to have opened a large valve in the engine room of the boat and a second in another compartment.
However, he made sure to close the fuel valves of the yacht so that there would be no pollution.
He told the crewmen, also Ukrainian, to abandon ship and that he would take full responsibility.