Ukraine Indicts Russian Navy Officers for Ill-Treatment of Civilian Crew

 

The Odesa Prosecutors’ Office reports it is pursuing charges against two Russian naval officers in the Black Sea Fleet, alleging they were responsible for the poor treatment of a civilian crew seized days after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It is largely a show event as the two officers are in Russia, but Ukraine is using it to draw attention to the ongoing conflict.

Two days after the invasion began on February 24, 2022, the rescue vessel Sapphire was stopped by the Russian authorities. Ukraine contends the ship was on a humanitarian mission to evacuate the wounded and dead from Snake Island. The location famously stood defiant in the early hours of the attack by the Russians before being overrun.

The vessel was built and operated for the Ukrainians as a SAR vessel for various missions in the Black Sea. Ukraine reports that there were 17 crewmembers aboard as well as four civilians, a doctor, an electrician, and two clergymen, when the Russians stopped the vessel. It was one of three ships Russia seized in the first days of the war.

It was commandeered by the Russian reconnaissance ship Equator and the rescue tug Shakhter, which was operating for the Russian Navy. Ukraine reports that the crew was detained aboard the Equator, and that is where they were subjected to ill-treatment.

 

Police and the Security Service of Ukraine led the investigation into the treatment of the crew from the SAR vessel

 

“The detainees were held in inhumane conditions: without proper access to water, food, and medical care, in cramped conditions, under psychological and physical pressure. During interrogations, they were subjected to physical violence, intimidated with weapons, and threatened with life and health,” alleges the prosecutor’s office.

The ship and its crew were taken to Crimea, and then the crew was taken to Russia. They, however, were returned to Ukraine a month later under the first prisoner swap. The vessel was returned to Ukraine weeks later.

A pre-trial investigation is being carried out by the police department of the Odesa region. The captains of both vessels are under suspicion for the ill-treatment of the crew and “other violations of the laws and customs of war.”