SIMFEROPOL, February 1. /TASS/. Two Russian sailors from the tanker Marinera, seized by the US Navy, have returned home and are in good condition, one of the crew members, Maksim Karpenko, told TASS after arriving home in Kerch on Sunday morning.

On January 28, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS that the two Russian sailors from the Marinera tanker had been released and were on their way to Russia.

"We are fine. I returned home to Kerch this morning. My colleague from the tanker has also returned home, to Astrakhan. We were warmly welcomed," Karpenko said.

He noted that he had been unable to contact his family for all 19 days following the seizure of the vessel, as British and US military personnel had confiscated communication devices. His relatives were able to learn about the sailors’ fate only from media reports.

Karpenko expressed gratitude to the Russian Foreign Ministry and to the head of the Republic of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, for their assistance in securing their release.

Marinera tanker seizure

The Russian Transport Ministry reported earlier that on January 7, US forces boarded the Marinera oil tanker in international waters. The ministry stressed that under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, no nation has the right to use force against vessels properly registered under other countries’ jurisdiction in international waters. The Marinera had been granted temporary permission to fly the Russian flag on December 24, 2025, based on Russian and international laws.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing on January 7 that the US administration could bring the crew of the Marinera tanker to the United States for trial over possible violations of federal law. The White House claims that the Marinera is part of Venezuela’s shadow fleet and was illegally transporting oil in breach of US sanctions.