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Nord ship captain’s health in question after returning from Ukraine

Captain of Russia’s arrested Nord fishing vessel Vladimir Gorbenko has returned to Crimea from Ukraine

SIMFEROPOL, February 11. /TASS/. Captain of Russia’s arrested Nord fishing vessel Vladimir Gorbenko, who has returned to Crimea from Ukraine, "doesn’t feel well," spokesperson for the ship owner company Anna Sheveleva told TASS.

"The captain is in Russia. His return home is his personal success. He doesn’t feel well but he says he will tell everybody about what happened when he is ready," she said, adding that the situation had affected the captain both health-wise and emotionally.

A week ago, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry issued a nationwide alert for Vladimir Gorbenko who had broken contact with his Ukrainian lawyers on January 26.

Nord vessel issue

In March 2018, Ukraine’s State Border Service detained a fishing vessel flying the Russian flag in the Sea of Azov, whose crew includes ten Russian nationals. The vessel’s captain was charged under the Ukrainian Criminal Code’s article on "violating the entry and exit rules to Ukraine’s occupied territory" and illegal fishing. On April 10, the Kherson City Court released Gorbenko on bail, while other Russian sailors were fined.

Two of the crew members managed to leave Ukraine but the other seven were prevented from leaving the country with Russian passports as Kiev considers Crimean residents to be Ukrainian citizens. However, on October 30, Kiev handed the sailors over to Russia in exchange for seven Ukrainian crew members from the YaMK-0041 and YaOD-2105 ships, detained for illegal fishing off Crimea’s coast.