The members of Captain Khayyam ship Yevheniy Morar, Vladimir Tostogan, Oleg Voynerovskiy and Pvel Chayka, who were detained in 2016 in Libya back to Ukraine.
Ukranian President Vladimir Zelenskiy expressed gratitude to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for helping to evacuate Ukranian sailors from Libya. He wrote on Twitter, that he is delighted with the return of the crew of the tanker Captain Khayyam, which has been under arrest in Libya for five years.
Ukranian President noted that the country doesn`t forget its citizens and doesn`t leave them in trouble.
«We glad to welcome our sailors, the crew members of the «Captain Khayyam» ro home after five years of imprisonment in Libya. Ukraine doesn`t forget and leave them in trouble. I want to express special thanks to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for his help in evacuating of our citizens» – publication says.
For ukranians returned to their homeland: Yevgeny Morar, Vladimir Tostogan, Oleg Voinerovsky and Pavel Chaika. In February 2016, the Libyan Coast Guard detained their vessel flying the Sierra Leone flag. In December 2017, a Libyan court sentenced the crew members to five years in prison.
On January 7, the presidential administration of Ukraine announced that four Ukrainian citizens from the crew of the «Captain Khayyam» tanker, detained in the territorial waters of Libya in 2016, will return to the country.